Rejuvenate
by kakashikrazy256
Summary: Kaitou Kid has been taken and forced into a world of nightmares in an illegal underground brothel run by shadows that can't be caught. With only a month to find the thief before his mind is destroyed, someone will have to plunge into the world of madness to pull him out.
1. Day 00

**Rejuvenate Chapter 1**

**This is based vaguely off of a Hetalia fanfiction I read a long time ago. I thought it was pretty awesome so I saved it. Sadly, I think the author took it down and I do not know the author's name :( But I love the concept so much that I wanted to apply it to Detective Conan. So if someone remembers that story's author or is the author xD then I hope you don't mind me using the concept.**

**The first chapter will be rated T but the chapters after that will most likely be too strong for that xD I will be changing it soon to M so keep a lookout for that.**

**Enjoy**

_Day 00_

The silence in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department was disrupted by various noises.

There were gasps of shock, retching, yelling and maybe even some sobs.

It sounded as if a storm had raged through the building and left a disaster in its wake to clean up.

What really happened wasn't that far off.

"What kind of sick fuck-"Nakamori had bit his lip hard in order to keep his emotions under control. He glanced around and watched some of his best men look away, disgust and fear shining in their eyes.

Sawada was on the ground, vomiting into a potted plant, but no one could blame him. Tsukano had excused himself to go to the bathroom to do the same thing in a more dignified manner. Nakamori himself had thrown a chair across the room in his fury.

Megure's department was here as well. The female detective had looked livid and was only standing in one place because her partner had held her back. Megure and Shiratori were looking over the items with grave expressions, refusing to let their ire affect them.

But they all held that same haunted look of disbelief and hopelessness. When the departments had gathered mere minutes ago to analyze the evidence, they met it with shock. As they searched for more details, they only grew more terrified when the truth was handed to them in black and white.

Phantom Thief 1412, the Kaitou Kid, was discovered missing a mere few hours ago. It was a heist night. Like every other heist the thief had pulled for the past two years, it started with a loud explosion of smoke and confetti.

The chase began, as usual. Kid pulled impossible pranks on the taskforce while laughing in his infuriating manner and Nakamori barked orders on the top of his lungs. Hakuba Saguru and Edogawa Conan were safely incapacitated by a syrup trap on the 32nd floor of the Midtown Tower.

But then Kid just disappeared. He hadn't even taken the jewel. He was just gone.

The taskforce and detectives were confused at first. They had no idea why the hell Kid staged all this crap only to chicken out last second. The taskforce had to begrudgingly admit that jewel case wasn't even that well-protected. The thief could've gotten it easily.

But he didn't.

They didn't think much of it at all. The taskforce shrugged, called it a night and left the building, apologizing to the owners. The detectives also went home, frustrated at the lack of an explanation for the thief's disappearance.

It wasn't until early next morning did the taskforce finally received the dreaded news.

Tokushima Taisei, a 58 year old janitor at Midtown Tower had hobbled down to the lobby, shaken and panicked. He had made his way up to the roof early morning to help clean up the aftermath heist mess. While sweeping at a corner of the roof where people seldom wander, he had come across the horrifying objects.

The management had immediately called the police department and the police made them swear to keep quiet about this in return.

They had forensic teams make their way to the roof of the busy building covertly, not wanting to draw in the media sharks so soon.

But there was nothing to be found. No fingerprints, no sign of struggle or blood. The only clues left behind were a silver pistol that gleamed dangerously and a plastic bag containing ripped and bloodied clothing that could only belong to Kaitou Kid.

That pistol and bag of clothes were sitting on the table innocently while the police department eyed it warily.

But it wasn't these two objects that had half the team sick to their stomachs. It was the photo that was crudely attached to the plastic bag.

The photo was of Kid. If they hadn't known better, the task force would've laughed, denying that the figure in the picture was the smirking, playful bastard.

But they did know better.

The photo was of Kid, bloodied and battered, not even conscious by the looks of it. His body was barely clothed enough to provide him any sort of decency. Nakamori shuddered to recall how pale and thin the thief's chest was. It looked like the body of a growing child, not one of a full grown man. The arms were toned and muscular, but even then they looked too young. His legs were a milky white color that was blemished by wounds.

That too young body held all the signs of torture. There were bloody welts and large bruises that were turning a deep purple strewn across his chest, arms and legs.

His arms and legs were also tied by ropes that wrapped around repeatedly, leaving virtually no possibilities of moving, let alone escaping.

What made Nakamori see red was the metal collar around the thief's pale neck. It was a simple ring of metal, attached to a chain that extended beyond the range of the photo.

It looked like a dog collar.

Fucking disgusting.

Kid's head was hanging down; more proof that he probably wasn't lucid at the time the picture was taken. Nakamori could faintly see the monocle charm dangling about.

The inspector had spent half his life chasing this thief. Sure, Kid was infuriating and made his blood pressure spike dangerously high. He yelled and chased the thief and the thief just laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

...

He wasn't laughing now.

And Nakamori hated that even more.

He snapped out of his dark thoughts when he heard Megure clear his throat. The task force looked up and Megure's own squad did as well.

The homicide inspector looked around, confirming that all eyes were on him, before he continued in a stern tone.

"We all know what happened and can safely conclude that...Kaitou Kid has been taken and tortured by unknown assailants. There were no witnesses and according to the security team at the Tower, surveillance did not catch anything either. We do not know where he is being held either. The background of the photo is vague and does not provide enough clues. Even if he is a criminal, this...torture cannot be justified in any way. Kid will face our national laws and punishments, not the laws and punishments of others. We need a plan of action."

"Yeah, I have a plan. How about we fucking find the thief and not just sit here blabbing?" Nakamori growled sharply, giving the photo another look before shutting his eyes with a shudder.

He couldn't take it. Kid was his jurisdiction. Kid was his responsibility. And Kid had been taken from right under his nose.

Megure's steely eyes soften a bit and he sighed, patting his fellow inspector on the shoulder.

"I understand your anger, Nakamori-kun. But we need more information. They were like shadows, there wasn't a trace." He said softly.

"Well, keep looking." Nakamori sighed tiredly, all the fire lost.

"We will."

* * *

It was dark.

He could barely remember anything.

All he could remember was pain.

It was dark.

He could not feel his limbs at all.

Actually, he could barely breathe.

He was somewhere cramped and tight, he could barely move.

It hurt.

Everything hurt.

He was so tired.

His skin was broken in so many places and congealed blood covered his body.

It was disgusting.

The position he was in hurt a lot.

He felt himself being moved though.

He could feel the occasional bump and there was a soft humming noise that was lulling him into a false sense of security.

Everything was throbbing.

But he was so very tired.

Within another few seconds, he had nodded off.

Only to be rudely awaken by a sting of cold, icy water.

He opened his eyes wide and winced. He was no longer in that dark place. They must've moved him while he slept.

The sudden light was too much for him and he felt blinded momentarily.

A rough hand grabbed his hair and lifted his head up, making him groan in pain.

"Welcome, _pet_." He heard a low chuckle and his stomach turned uneasily.

_Where am I?_

* * *

Hakuba could not believe it.

He had gone to the police station the day after the heist, intending to look through some files on the thief for some clues to why the thief might've bailed out on the heist gem. Was something wrong with the gem? Did the owners set up a secret trap without telling the task force?

Summer vacation had just begun a while ago and the British teen was looking for things to keep himself occupied. Graduation was still fresh in his mind and he chuckled when recalling the spectacle that Kuroba had performed at the closing ceremony.

He had decided to stay in Japan for college studies. His father was enthusiastic about his choice while his mother disapproved, wanting him to return to England.

But the recently turned 19 year old knew that he could never permanently return to England anymore. Life here in Ekoda was just too interesting to let go.

He was slightly irked by the fact that Kuroba abandoned the heist after all those bloody traps. Hakuba swore he could still feel the syrup in his hair.

He had drove Edogawa back to Beika after letting the boy clean himself up at his home first. He had told Hakuba there was no way he would go back and "get scolded by Ran-neechan for getting syrup on the carpet".

The boy was strange but after two years of falling for the same traps at heists, the two detectives have formed some sort of bond. The nine year old had referred to themselves as the 'Unfortunate Victims of Kid's Jokes Club' but Hakuba had denied being called as such.

They respected each other's skills and would often find themselves stuck at a crime scene together. Sometimes the loud, idiotic Kansai detective was present too but Hakuba would just zone him out with ease.

So the two would sometimes talk and have tea. It was strange talking to a child that understood everything that he said while staring back at him with those knowing azure eyes.

But Hakuba did not care. A detective was a detective. Age did not matter.

And Edogawa Conan's skills were terrifyingly sharp.

However, Hakuba knew he had to keep this case a secret from Edogawa.

No matter how mature the boy may act, he was still a child.

He did not need to see this.

"Why would they leave the pistol and photo." He stated rather than asked as he stared down at the evidence on the table with a glare.

He had walked in to chaos. Task force members were loitering around the halls, all looking sick and tired. All the other departments looked busy as well.

He had walked into the meeting room and demanded to be briefed of the situation at hand.

His hands were clenched into fists, knuckles white. He couldn't keep his eyes off the photo and the more he stared, the dizzier he felt.

Kuroba...

"That's the part we don't understand. Why would they deliberately leave behind evidence? If they wanted to take out Kid, they could've done so secretly and we...would have never known." Takagi spoke up quietly.

That much was true. If the janitor hadn't found the clothes and pistol, the police would've never known Kid was missing in the first place.

"That's the point. They want to be noticed. They want to be seen and acknowledged for their...work." He gritted his teeth, running his gloved hands over the pistol.

"B-but wouldn't that put them at risk of being discovered?" A task force member spoke up shakily and Hakuba shook his head.

"They're arrogant." He said stiffly, pausing for a moment to regain his composure.

"They are confident. They know that even with the evidence handed to us on a silver plate, we won't be able to find them. They're completely sure. They must think this is some kind of twisted bloody game. And they enjoy playing with us." He analyzed and deduced stoically while the police officers glowered at the thought of being toyed with.

"We will find these bastards." Nakamori scowled, looking at the photo again.

Hakuba nodded.

"Since this is a game to these people, they won't stop at this." He gestured to the sickening photo. "They'll continue to taunt us without fail. We will wait...then we will strike back."

Megure's group nodded and so did the task force.

It would be painful, but they would wait and endure.

And hopefully they would be able to retrieve Kid before it was too late.

They did not have to wait long. For the very next day, a package arrived.

**Phew! That's like the longest prologue I ever wrote *wipes sweat off brow* I would love some feedback for this ^^ maybe even some suggestions if you have some.**

**Also, very important question! Pairings! Who would you like to play a bigger role later on in this fic with Kaito-kun? Hakuba or Shinichi? And sorry it has to be yaoi for later plot reasons.**

**Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated. **


	2. Day 01

**Rejuvenate Chapter 2**

**There isn't any actual smut in this chapter, just a lot of touching so it's still rated T. When it actually happens I'll change it to M.**

**Warnings: A lot of touching/kissing and potty mouth language. Grammar and spelling errors may be present.**

**Enjoy**

_Day 01_

He fought back ferociously.

He snarled like a caged animal when they touched him, running their hands down his body suggestively, taking turns every hour or so. It made him want to vomit, disgusted beyond belief.

He bit and spit in their faces every chance he got and received dozens of blows in return.

"I'm glad there's some fight in you. It would've been too easy if you just gave up like a pathetic little slut." The man that was currently straddling him snickered and grabbed his jaw in a tight grip.

The thief growled lowly and spit again.

"You're disgusting." He hissed, pulling at his tied up hands. The man's nails dug into his skin roughly, drawing beads of blood.

"Hey now, don't you get too feisty. Clients don't like pets that aren't trained." Chapped lips crashed onto his bleeding ones without warning and he fought even harder.

"S-stop!" He hissed, twisting his head back and forth to break the kiss. He didn't want this. He needed to get away. The magician rolled to his side, crawling, desperately trying to avoid the bastard's hands. Pain shot up his entire body and he curled in on himself with a cry he muffled with the bed sheets. The wounds he had gotten when he was first caught the night of the heist were still throbbing relentlessly and he couldn't ignore them anymore.

He let out a gasp of shock when a hand grabbed his ankle and yanked him back.

"G-get away from me." His eyes widened as his heart pounded faster and faster. He nearly added a please at the end of his sentence. Deep down, he knew he was defeated in this situation. The man would not listen to his words. He had tried to talk and negotiate the second he had woken up, but the people here were not interested. They were more interested in…other skill sets.

He shuddered when he was presented before the man's wandering hands again in a deceivingly gentle way.

Staying calm was the key in this situation. He was the Kaitou Kid. There was nothing in the world that he couldn't escape. He…just needed to stay calm and think carefully…that's right...calm.

He couldn't drop his masks now. He had people to protect. He had a goal to reach. He wasn't going to give up here.

"It seems you need to be properly trained." The gentle hands dropped the façade and turned rough again, grabbing at his spiky hair. They pulled his head back and he gasped in pain.

"Pets don't show any signs of discomfort while servicing their master." The man scowled as if lecturing a student that had fallen asleep in class.

"F-fuck off." He whispered, trying to move his head away from that tight grip.

The man chuckled and lowered his head, placing his lips on his trembling neck. Disgusting slurping noises filled the air as he sucked at the pale skin loudly and crudely. Kid closed his eyes and clenched his tied hands in shame. He was barely clothed, save for a pair of shorts that were dangerously sliding off, leaving him feeling extremely naked and vulnerable. He didn't know where he was. There were no windows and no outside noises to help him deduce. This man wasn't the only one around. There had been ten more that brought him into this bedroom for 'conditioning'. They had been sent away the moment they dropped him off but the thief had a feeling they weren't too far away, standing at the door, waiting for their turn.

They were all foreigners, with handsome features and slender frames. He was not fooled though. They all had that same predatory look in their eyes that unnerved him to no end. The man that had offered to be his 'instructor' was a Japanese man however, with young handsome features.

Kid could only see a monster towering over him.

To his terror, the man shifted again, pinning him to the bed again, grinding slowly on his hips deliberately. It sent disturbing shivers down his spine and he let out a traitorous moan, cursing himself the moment he let it out. The shame burned in his heart and he glared at the satin bed sheets.

"That's better." The man smiled happily and Kid almost thought the sick bastard was going to pet him on the head. The thief didn't stop glaring holes through the man's forehead that was slick with sweat.

"Next lesson." He let out a cry of surprise when the hands slid down from his sides until they dipped into his shorts, tracing every curve and edge of the teen's body.

"Mmm…" The man hummed into his neck as his hands began to pull at the already loose shorts. "I'm going to enjoy this one."

That was when the tears started to leave the thief's eyes.

* * *

"Is he even alive?"

"I've been doing this every time you bring a new one in. Do you doubt my skills, Mr. Blanc?"

"Of course not Mr. Kousuke. We trust your skills."

"Then what's the problem?"

"He's a special case, you know that."

"Hah, does it even matter? Internationally wanted thief or college brat, it doesn't matter. Eventually…they all break."

"….Is he ready?"

"For his first client? No. He is still too rebellious. He would not get good feedback if he were to be assigned to a job so early."

"You cannot convince him?"

"You see all that blood? No, even after that he would not admit defeat."

"Did you…."

"…Yes. But his answer was still no. He's a strong brat. As expected of the Kaitou Kid. Capturing him was the easy step."

"…We will have to use it."

"I agree, if we don't he'll end up too damaged to fix."

"You didn't have to beat him up so bad. Look, he's not even waking up."

"He was banging his head against the headboard to knock himself out, the little bastard. Had to drug him into lala land before he could bash his head in."

"Such an unruly pet."

"I've only gotten through two lessons. There is still much to teach."

"I'm afraid you'll have to put your lesson plans on a halt. It's time."

"…That's right. I'll get him ready."

"You'll be the one presenting him."

"Ehh? Why?"

"It would be best if those idiots heard from their native tongue."

"I guess that's true. Hahhh, I'm not very good with public speaking."

"Get over it. Label his file Rejuvenate subject #147. We already sent out the package. They'll be receiving it in two hours."

"Yeah, yeah."

* * *

"A package?" Nakamori eyed the box warily, his hands resting on his firearm for comfort.

"It arrived this morning, sir." Sawada nodded in confirmation, his nervous glance never leaving the parcel.

It looked innocent enough. It had passed gunpowder testing and was too small to be anything truly threatening. There was a huge insignia of two silver roses with their stems intertwined in a mess of thorns and leaves.

"It's the same design as the one of the gun we retrieved…." Hakuba told the inspector grimly. He had been spending most of his day running from department to department, soaking up any new intel he could find.

"I know." He replied just as coldly, eyeing the pistol sitting in a plastic bag on his desk.

"W-when will we open it, keibu?" Yakima swallowed nervously, staring at the item with the large naïve eyes of a rookie.

"When Megure and his group arrives. We agreed to do a joint investigation." Nakamori sighed. Technically, Megure's department was in charge of homicide and he knew the thief was alive.

He _had_ to be alive.

The entire Metropolitan department was scrambling to find details and evidence. But he worked best with Megure's group.

There was a knock at the door and the taskforce looked up and greeted the Homicide department with nods and mumbled salutations.

"I thought you were getting Mouri on the case. I don't see him." Nakamori nodded when Megure walked up to stand beside him at the conference table in the middle of the room.

"He's currently in Nagoya with Ran-kun. She's planning to apply to Meidai and they're at a college tour."

"Fucking fantastic." Nakamori muttered.

"Don't worry, we'll send the information to him after we open the package and find out more." Megure attempted to appease the other man. He just nodded, unconvinced.

"You said, you found it in your department's mailbox this morning?" Shiratori circled the package several times, muttering dimensions under his breath.

"At six thirty eight exactly." Nakamori broke in sharply and Shiratori nodded.

"Did you see who it was?" Satou asked.

"No, we went through security footages dating back to when we last checked the mail twenty seven hours ago. I didn't see anything." Either they were fucking magicians or they had a way to hack into the security feeds and leave virtually no traces behind.

"Well…I guess the only thing left to do is open it." Megure took a deep breath and looked over to his friend.

"I'll do it." Nakamori said boldly, daring anyone to protest. No one did, so he stepped forward, hands outstretched.

The room grew deathly silent as he did so. The outside noise from the other divisions in the building seemed to disappear as they all held their breath in anticipation.

The parcel paper ripped loudly and he almost flinched when he removed all the paper and grabbed the letter cutter from his desk to cut the tape. With trembling hands, he took a shaky breath and lifted the lid.

"It's…." He blinked, staring at the object in the box.

"What? What is it?" Takagi squeaked out as he gripped his notepad tightly.

"A tablet…"

"A tablet? It's not a repeat of your kidnapping fiasco is it, Takagi-kun?" Satou deadpanned at her partner who just laughed nervously.

"Turn it on." Megure ordered and Nakamori nodded, carefully lifting the tablet out of its cocoon of packaging peanuts with gloves.

"Let's see…" He muttered to himself and clicked the on button. The company logo appeared and glowed. He could hear all the other officers in the room crowd behind him, yearning to seek a glance. He watched as inspectors from other divisions were quietly entering the room, wanting to find out more too.

"Tch, Sawada! Get a fucking cable and hook it up to the projector. I feel like the entire building is breathing down on my back." The seasoned officer nodded and ran off to dig in the drawers.

By the time they got the tablet hooked up to a large screen, the company logo had faded away and in its place was the double rose insignia.

They stared at the eccentric design nervously, wondering when it would change.

"Send the feed to Mouri-kun's email as well. He would want to see this when he gets home." Megure ordered the officer from the tech division and the man nodded, typing rapidly.

Hakuba looked around the room with a frown. Within minutes, the news had travelled and the room was nearly packed with inspectors and high ranking officers.

He picked up the ripped packaging paper and read the address.

It was addressed to the airport not too far from the city. This meant these people were keeping Kid overseas somewhere and they have men in Japan to do local work. The men here would pick up the package and bring it to the police department secretly.

He blinked when he heard all the whispers die down and glanced up. To his horror, the insignia slowly faded away to show a scene.

"Bloody hell…." He whispered and heard the officers around him gasp similarly.

"Kid!" Nakamori shouted out, his eyes wide as he stared at the screen.

The little words at the bottom on the screen told them it was a live feed. The background was very plain and vague. The walls were a dark gray color and the floor was white carpet. There was no furniture save for the chair and table in the middle of the room.

And Kaitou Kid laid at the foot of the chair.

He was wearing a blue shirt similar to the one in his uniform and a pair of black shorts that showed off the cuts and bruises adorning his pale legs.

He was lying on his side, his face towards the screen. The entire police force could see the dark bags under his closed eyes. They could see the bruised and split lip. They could see the monocle with the hairline crack on the glass. They could see the thin stream of blood dripping from his hairline down onto the white carpet, staining it. They could see the faint traces of tears. They saw every detail that was enlarged by the projector onto the big screen.

Hakuba watched several officers get up and leave the room in a hurry while others stayed shell-shocked at the sight of the untouchable thief brought to such a low state.

"Get a fucking team out there tracing this feed, damn it!" Nakamori roared to the audience of officers and five officers shouted an affirmative, pushing past others to get to the computers in the front of the conference room.

"I'm afraid that would be futile, keibu-san." Everyone stiffened at the voice and searched the screen for any sign of another person.

A man walked into sight and strutted his way to the chair. He was young, 27 years old at most, with black hair reaching past his ears. He wore a stylish suit that clung to his body tightly and he held an air of confidence around him. His smile was eerie and disturbing and his eyes screamed predator.

"Who the fuck are you?" Nakamori glared at the screen and other officers growled in the same sentiment.

"Please please, let's avoid all that dirty language. We have children in the room." He giggled and took a seat on the ornate wooden chair, stepping down on the thief's head with one foot.

"Hey!" Nakamori yelled again when he saw the thief groan in pain, not yet waking up.

"Please, be at ease. I am not your enemy here." The man smiled but did not lift his foot.

"Not our enemy? Could've fooled me." An officer shouted from the back and a loud roar of agreement erupted.

"I thought this kid here was your enemy." He put more pressure on his foot and Kid whined again, his brows twitching.

"Get off of him, damn it!"

"I am merely taking away an inconvenience. He has been making a fool out of you guys for years, hasn't he? Isn't it better for us to take care of him for you?" The man ignored their demands and looked down at the unconscious thief, pulling a confused expression onto his face.

"He may be a pain in our ass but he is still one of our citizens. We will apprehend him and he will face _our_ judgment not _yours_." Hakuba spoke up quietly and all eyes turned to him.

"That's right! Kid is our responsibility!"

"Don't underestimate the police force! We'll take you all in!"

"Bastard!"

The man merely looked at them all with the same amused twinkle in his eyes. He focused on Hakuba, sizing up the British teen.

"Hakuba Saguru was it? It's an honor to put a face to the name. This child was calling out for you, you know."

The detective stiffened and stared at the unresponsive thief. _Kuroba….was?_

"That's right…" The man cooed as if reading his thoughts. "He was asking for help you know. Begging for it. Hakuba! Tantei-san! Tantei-kun! Help me! _Save_ me! Keibu, please help!" They all winced and looked down, refusing to acknowledge the fact that Kid would beg for help.

The man chuckled and looked down at the thief.

"Where were you guys when he called for you, oh so responsible police force?" They didn't answer and he laughed before continuing. "I think it's about time you left the dream world. Wake up!" He kicked the magician in the back of the head and was rewarded with a choked cry as the thief winced, curling in on himself as the pain registered.

They watched in shock as Kid twitched and struggled to move as he opened his eyes dazedly.

"Kid? Hey Kid!" Nakamori shouted at the screen repeatedly, waiting for Kid to acknowledge.

The thief heard the commotion and his eyes snapped into focus as he glanced around bewilderedly.

"Wha…" His voice was hoarse and low as if he spent his remaining ounces of strength screaming until he could no longer produce any sounds.

He looked into the camera and came to a conclusion quick.

"K-keibu?" He mumbled and then turned his head with a snap to glare up at the man.

"You bastard!" He snarled and attempted to lunge at his captor even when his hands were tied behind his back.

"Easy, pet." The man spat as he easily kicked the thief in the ribs, causing him to choke on air, falling back to the ground with a thud.

The man turned back to the camera.

"Ah my apologies, he really is unruly." He sighed apologetically and Nakamori growled.

"What do you fuckers want? Money? Jewelry? Information? Revenge?" He listed off the usual list of demands involved in hostage takings, hoping at the bottom of his heart that it was one of them.

The man blinked in surprised and laughed again.

"No no, we are very well provided for, thank you very much. I doubt you have any information that we do not know already. Revenge? No, we have no quarrel with this child."

"Stop calling him that." Nakamori growled. He had been chasing this man for two decades, he hated how the thief was being degraded to being called a brat.

"I only speak the truth." The man smiled and Nakamori swore again. He didn't want to believe it, but he knew. The frail, trembling frame of the thief's body, the wide eyes. It was a brat. The Kid was a child.

This made the situation many times worse.

"If you have no quarrel with him then why do this?" Hakuba spoke again, knowing Nakamori could not anymore. These people knew how old Kuroba was. Perhaps they even knew his identity.

"Why?" The man pulled a pondering expression to his face and Hakuba wanted to punch it right off.

"Hmm, well you see…" He bent down and grabbed the thief by his hair. Kid swore at him and shook his body back and forth. The grip tightened and he winced.

"He's charming….exquisite…beautiful." He used his other hand to caress the thief's cheeks and Hakuba wanted to vomit.

"What do you need him for?" He swallowed painfully and asked.

"For his skill of course." The man chuckled and moved to do the most unforgivable thing.

He dipped his head down and pulled Kid in for a deep, vicious kiss.

Hakuba swore under his breath and slammed a fist onto the table while the officers yelled in outrage.

The detective watched the thief struggle against the captor and felt a pang of satisfaction when the man withdrew suddenly, lifting one hand to nurse his bleeding lip. Kid was panting, blood painting his lips as he spat at the man's face with a sneer.

"Kaitou Kid works for no one." The thief whispered hoarsely and Hakuba thanked the gods for keeping Kuroba strong.

"Tch, more training is needed then." The man hissed, his smile gone.

"No." Hakuba whispered as the man reached into his suit jacket and pulled out an object.

In a blink of an eye, the cap was ripped off and the needle was jabbed deep into Kid's neck.

"NO!" Nakamori roared, watching Kid's eyes widen as the green fluid left the vial and entered his system.

The man dropped the thief and Kid immediately curled in on himself, yell after yell escaped his lips as he twisted back and forth. His back snapping completely straight sometimes and arching into a near perfect curve at other times

The conference room echoed with Kid's pained screams and some left the room again while some just closed their eyes, not wanting to see the pain anymore.

"What the fuck did you do to him!?" Nakamori was screaming over the thief's screams.

"We will meet again, Tokyo Metropolitan. Until then." The man smiled and nodded to someone off camera. The screen turned black and the pained yelled ended abruptly, leaving the room deathly silent save for the quiet sobs of some emotional officers that could not handle the video.

"What…the actual…fuck." Nakamori collapsed onto his knees, staring at nothing as Megure placed a comforting arm on his shoulder.

"We will be holding a meeting. Everyone involved in the case needs to show up to Conference Room C tomorrow morning at eight." Megure announced quietly before taking his leave with the rest of his department.

Soon, everyone had left the room in silence.

Hakuba stood in the middle of the room, staring at the tablet, his expression unreadable.

_I'll find you Kuroba…I swear it...just hang in there._

* * *

At the Mouri detective agency, all the lights were off. The only source of brightness came from the glowing computer screen. The room was empty, but it looked as if a tornado had ripped through without warning. Pillow cushions were lying on the floor, papers were strewn everywhere, flying around when the fan's soft breath reached them. There was a mug on the floor, shattered into pieces. The desk was a mess.

The chair was unoccupied but the screen showed an email account with multiple subscriptions to Okino Yoko's fanpage, fanclub, and magazines. One particular message stood out from the rest and was opened.

A small window was opened to show a video feed that showed nothing but darkness.

**Long ass chapter, damn lol. I should be studying for a Physics final, not doing this. OTL**

**I actually drew something for the first time in a longgg time. I thought it turned out decent. I colored it and everything. My own fanart for my own story *clapclap* I don't have a scanner tho pfftt I want to show you lovely children tho *dilemma* **

**Thanks for reading, reviews are lovely. Suggestions are welcomed. *hugs* **

**See you soon. **


	3. Day 02

**Rejuvenate Chapter 3 **

**The way Shinichi handles his situation is pretty light in the manga. I always wondered how he is still functioning and smiling sometimes. So there is some Conan depression here. It's mostly Conan-centric here but I hope people won't get bored, more Kaito torture is coming up!**

**Warnings: Depression and thoughts of suicide, spelling and grammar mistakes. **

_Day 02_

"Conan-kun, look at this mess! Mou, I can't be cleaning after you and dad forever, you know." Ran sighed as she gathered the shattered pieces of a coffee mug while her nine year old charge picked up papers into a stack.

"I'm sorry, Ran-neechan! A bird flew in and I had to chase it out. It left a big mess." The boy laughed nervously as he placed the papers on the desk. He wasn't completely lying. There really was a huge mess left in his hands to deal with.

"And you didn't think to clean up afterwards." Ran pinched his cheeks with a fake scowl and he batted her hand away with a childish whine.

"I forgot! I forgot!" He insisted and she laughed, shaking her head. He had left the mess and gone straight to bed in a flurry of angry thoughts. He had forgotten until this morning when the two came home and found the mess. Kogorou scoffed from where he sat at his computer, drinking a beer.

"Really now, that stupid college fair lasted the entire day and there was traffic delay on the way home. We barely made it back today! Then we have to come home in the morning to this freaking mess. I have a feeling you're just slacking off, you freeloader brat." The older detective muttered under his breath, taking a sip from the can as he logged into his account.

"Ah! Speaking of slacking off, I wonder how Kisa-san is doing. He told me he had to take a few mock exams. Ah…I wonder if he did alright on them." Ran wondered out loud, a light blush gracing her cheeks.

"Eh? That brat? Don't tell me he spent the last two days playing video games. There's no way I'm letting some loser bum that can't even get into college date my daughter."

"Otou-san! Kisa-san isn't that type of person! He was valedictorian in his high school, you know."

"Yeah, yeah. But Ran, don't let this brat take advantage of you! If he ends up leaving you like that Kudo bra-"

"Otou-san!" Ran rolled her eyes as Conan stiffened, looking away.

"I told you already, Shinichi and I had sorted out our differences. We're friends now so stop picking on him all the time." She shook her head in exasperation and turned to the small detective.

"I'm not going to be home for a while, Conan-kun. You have to keep an eye on otou-san for me and make sure he doesn't burn down the place." She giggled and Conan nodded with a grin.

He had called her a year ago and told her to move on. They spoke for several hours. He didn't tell her about Conan. He couldn't yet. Not until those bastards were behind bars and he returned to his adult form.

Haibara had told him that if she ever created an antidote, it would most likely return him to his seventeen year old self, not a nineteen year old like Ran was.

He couldn't keep her waiting anymore.

He told her a condensed version that was more believable than shrinking into a child. He was on a difficult case that would put them all in danger if he were to be seen in public. He wouldn't be able to return for a long time and it was best if Ran moved on with her life without waiting for him.

She had hung up on him, crying and screaming 'I hate you'. That night, the only thing he could hear was the sound of her soft sobs through the thin walls and his own heart breaking.

A week later, she had called him back. Much calmer, she told him that she agreed that it would be for the best. She told him that she had feelings for him and how they were dwindling as time passed. He told her the same, apologizing as he did. They agreed to still be best friends and that was that.

A year passed and they still called each other frequently, teasing and inquiring about each other's lives. Conan and Ran got closer, becoming more like siblings that had each other's backs no matter what.

Eight months ago, Ran met Kisa Satoshi. They were both applying to colleges and met on the same tour. He was looking to finding a career in law and she did as well. They met up a few more times and officially started dating six months ago.

It made his heart ache sometimes, but Ran was happy.

Kisa was a good guy. He was genuinely serious about Ran and would never hurt her like Shinichi did. He was just as smart as Ran and he knew they shared many interests.

So he accepted it.

He buried himself in cases. He followed Kogorou everywhere and was present at nearly every crime scene, solving them as if they were routine.

His life took a dark turn.

He skipped school constantly, leaving the detective agency to take long walks to all the places he frequented when he was a teen. He got called to the school several times for family meetings. They told him even if he found school boring and easy, he couldn't just cut classes. They suggested having him skip a grade or two if he wasn't challenged enough.

He didn't want to trouble Ran and Kogorou anymore and he didn't want to leave the Detective Boys either. He declined skipping grades and showed up to school more. He even purposely got questions wrong on tests in order to seem less suspicious.

But he wasn't satisfied.

He hated it.

He hated seeing Ran's desk piled up with calculus and physics textbooks while his was covered with multiplication and division worksheets.

He hated seeing her sitting up until midnight studying for an English final while he didn't even have to glance at his review sheet.

He hated seeing her get ready for graduation while he took his math final on fractions.

He hated seeing her get her diploma with a huge grin while he sat in the audience instead of being up there besides her, holding his own awards.

Haibara was worried he was going into depression, so he avoided her for weeks. Hattori called him once and asked about his state of mind as well. So he avoided his calls too.

He stopped caring.

He snuck back into his house a couple of times when Okiya was out shopping. The detective would go into his father's study and take out the gun that was in the secret cabinet besides the desk.

And he would hold it in his hands and stare at it, wondering how much longer he could take it until he pulled the trigger.

He would never find _them_. Haibara will never find enough information to create an antidote. Even if she did, it would probably take another decade, and Conan would be seventeen then.

What need was there for Kudo Shinichi then?

Several times, he had the gun against his temple, fingers trembling over the trigger.

He never pulled it.

He would put the gun back in the cabinet, hidden behind bottles of liquor and files and go home.

Only to start the cycle over again the very next day.

It wasn't until Kaitou Kid sent a heist note addressed to him specifically through code, did he begin to lighten up again.

Kid gave him the chase of his life and he hadn't felt this way since forever. When the heist had ended, he went home and fell asleep as soon as he got into bed. For the first time, he didn't dream of his nightmarish situation.

Kid sent more heist notes and Conan attended every one of them.

Once, he was at a heist with Hakuba Saguru and they both ended up strung to a flagpole in their underwear in the middle of the night at a televised soccer game.

After that, they met up a few more times to share their sorrows about a certain pain in the ass thief.

Hakuba treated him like an equal. He had told him that a detective was a detective. Age did not matter.

It overjoyed Conan to hear that from someone that didn't know his true identity.

He stopped going back to his house. Hattori visited once and they ended up solving a case with Hakuba. The Brit and Osakan ended up tearing at each other's throats while Conan solved the case by himself, face-palming the entire time.

But he knew Hattori and Hakuba would be great friends if they could just get pass their arrogant facades.

So he started solving more cases with the two of them. Sometimes all three of them were invited to a Kid case and those ended in disasters that put them on the headlines of the papers the next day.

He was somewhat happy again. He went to school and learned the things he already learned. He solved cases with ease and was starting to earn a name for himself. He is prodigy detective that was trained by the famous Mouri Kogorou and high school detectives Hattori Heiji and Hakuba Saguru. He didn't mind the misinformation. He was just glad he was getting acknowledged for his own skills instead of hiding it behind the Sleeping Kogorou mask.

Haibara warned him to not show off too much in case this got them onto the Organization's radar.

He went back to his house one last time.

Stealthily, he crept into his dad's study and climbed onto the comfy chair, opening the cabinet doors.

The bottles of alcohol were still in the same order that they were when he visited four months ago. The papers were still sitting in the same corner.

But the gun was gone.

He closed the cabinet with a smile and left the house.

At the next heist, he was the only detective there.

"You did it on purpose." He had said to Kid on the roof.

The thief didn't answer for a while. Conan almost thought the magician would leave without a word.

"I did." He finally spoke after nearly five minutes. Conan blinked and stared at the floor.

"How?" _How did you know? _

Kid had turned around and stared him straight in the eyes with those melancholic lilac eyes.

"Because I know." He had whispered softly and ruffled the boy's hair.

"Don't give up, Kudo. I haven't."

Then he was gone.

Conan wondered if the thief had ever held a gun to his own head and wondered if life was worth living.

He probably had.

He never let his thoughts wander to those dark corners of his mind ever again.

Conan glanced at Kogorou, who was currently sifting through his emails. He had made sure to mark the video as unread.

He heard the older man click the email. He saw his eyes narrow as he read the note from the inspector. He pushed his can of beer into the garbage can.

"Ran, brat, get out of here for a while, I have work." He heard the solemn edge to his voice and Ran did too.

She grabbed Conan's hands and they both left the office quietly.

"I wonder what that was about…" Ran hummed softly and Conan shrugged.

He never did get to thank Kid for what he had done.

It probably seemed like a small favor to the thief but it kept him alive.

It was a debt he didn't know how he could repay.

And now, it was his chance to.

He would find Kid.

And save him.

* * *

"Why the hell are you here?" Mouri's voice was uncharacteristically serious. He stared down at the pint-sized detective with a frown and Conan stared back up. Megure and his division stood to the side, watching their argument nervously.

It wasn't often that they saw the famous Sleeping Kogorou so solemn. Usually, when he found that Conan had followed him to the police department, he would whack him on the head with a curse and let the boy come in with him anyways.

But the situation was different here.

Mouri found it hilarious that he would allow the brat to tag along for gruesome murder cases without a second thought.

But this was where he drew the line.

This was the Kaitou Kid, being tortured and perhaps even raped by men that viewed this as a game.

He didn't want Conan to see this.

"I want to hel-"

"You can't, Conan." He cut the child off curtly, the name unfamiliar on this tongue. He rarely used it.

"Not this time." He sighed and turned to walk away. Conan stayed where he stood and Megure's group gave him one last look before walking into the conference room after Mouri.

Conan stayed, watching several officers rush into the conference room in fear of being late. It was already ten. Two hours later than the time they were supposed to meet. But Megure had delayed it in hopes that Mouri would show up.

"Conan-kun, you can't stay in the middle of the hallway. Are you waiting for someone?" The lady that usually sat at the reception desk touched his shoulder lightly and he nodded.

"Yeah, I'll just sit over there." He pointed to the lounge chairs next to the vending machines and she nodded with a smile, going back to her post.

He took a seat and glared down at his knees. He had forgotten to put a bug on Kogorou's clothes. The detective cursed himself for his sudden bout of incompetence and wondered how he was going to get any information at this rate.

He flinched when he heard the loud sound of a drink being dispensed by the vending machine next to him. He looked up to see a can of black coffee being offered to him.

"You look like you need this." He sighed and grabbed the drink from Hakuba's hands.

The British teen flopped down next to him in a rather ungentlemanly manner, opening his own can of ice tea.

"Thanks." Conan muttered, chugging down the bitter liquid while Hakuba winced.

"I never understand how you can just swallow that disgusting…paint thinner."

"Don't you ever get tired of your tea, Hakuba-niichan? Or are you so desperate to fit into your country's stereotype?" Conan dodged with a grin when Hakuba swatted at him. They smiled at each other before relapsing into a comfortable silence as they drank their beverages.

"You didn't come here to get a free coffee from me obviously." Hakuba said calmly after several minutes. He watched Conan tense and grip at the can tightly.

"Kid."

That one word echoed loudly in the hallway.

"So you do know." Hakuba sighed and put his can down on the floor, leaning back against the wall.

"How?" He laughed without humor in his voice.

"Occhan's password isn't that hard to crack. He practically told everyone what it was during this one case." Conan said, putting his coffee down as well.

"His computer is the only one in the apartment. So occasionally, I get on to search up some case or anything more entertaining than Okino Yoko's reruns. So his email account was just on when…." He trailed off.

"The video feed, you saw that." Hakuba finished for him. The child swallowed and nodded.

"I came to see if I could get some information. But unfortunately, Kogorou-occhan wouldn't let me in." He sighed and took off his glasses, rubbing them clean with his shirt.

"You want to help Kid."

"Of course I do!" Conan snapped with a glare before blinking in shock at his own outburst. He muttered a quiet apology before continuing.

"Of course I do. He's a thief and he's really annoying." He laughed mirthlessly. "But he's not a bad guy, Hakuba-niichan, he really isn't. He's just broken….like the rest of us."

Hakuba didn't comment on the boy's strange commentary. Occasionally, Conan would say things that made Hakuba question the boy's age and history. But he never voiced it. Because he knew that if he did, Conan would leave and never confide in him again.

"I know. That's why I want to help as well." He finally said and Conan nodded.

"Why didn't you go to the meeting, Hakuba-niichan? They would've let you in."

"There is no need to. They haven't gotten any new information from Kid's captors. It's merely a recap of the events that have happened."

"I see…do you think it's Kuroba-san?" Hakuba's breath caught in his throat as he thought about Kuroba.

He had told Conan about his suspicions of a friend by the name of Kuroba Kaito being Kid. He never delved too deeply in his findings and Conan never asked. _It's more interesting to catch him on the chase, isn't it? _The boy had told him with a laugh.

"I don't…I…I don't know. I haven't been in contact with Kuroba-kun since graduation two months ago." He sighed, burying his head in his hands. He desperately wished that Kid wasn't Kuroba for the first time since he began chasing him. Kid had called out to him for help. He had begged. He wanted to believe that the man was just lying to get on the police's nerves. But after hearing Kid's screams of agony, he wasn't even sure anymore.

"We'll find him, Hakuba-niichan." Conan whispered, putting a hand on Hakuba's needs. He had seen the video too. _He was asking for help you know. Begging for it. Hakuba! Tantei-san! Tantei-kun! Help me! __Save__ me! Keibu, please help! _He gritted his teeth to recall it. To think that Kid would even call out to Conan was disturbing.

"We need to do it soon then. I have never seen that drug before. And the effects seem almost…fatal."

"That's right. The effects were almost instantaneous." Conan agreed with a frown.

"I analyzed the packaging paper that the tablet was delivered in. The original address and packaging number was ripped off. But it was delivered to the airport."

"Without the packaging number and address, we can't ask the airport where it came from. But we can assume it came from overseas."

"I thought the same as well. But how can we be sure? This could be a way to throw us off their trail." Hakuba raised an eyebrow as Conan took out his phone.

"I saved the video. Look here." He found the part he was looking for and pressed play.

Hakuba winced when the sight of Kid's battered body shone on the screen. They had to save the thief soon.

"Look at the chair." He zoomed in to the ornate chair that Kid was lying in front of.

Hakuba scrutinized the image closely before blinking in realization.

"I see. That's how you came to your conclusion. As expected of you, Conan-kun."

Conan gave him a small smile and pointed to the legs of the chair.

"The cabriole legs that are unique and authentic, the light colored, asymmetrical curves of the Rococo style, the gothic furniture made during the Ancien Regime…"

"France. This chair was made in France." Hakuba let out a breath, finishing Conan's deduction.

"These unique chairs were made for Louis XV in the eighteenth century. Over the course the history, royal furniture like this rarely survived. Even if they did, it would be rare to see them in France, much less anywhere else in the world." Conan was smiling. They were getting closer and closer to finding Kid.

"So France is a likely location."

"It's just speculation but yes, it's a good place to start."

"Then if we just figure out the design of the insignia…." Hakuba mumbled to himself and Conan perked up.

"Insignia?"

"Oh! Yes, I forgot to show you. They left behind a pistol with a design that was also apparent on the package and tablet." Hakuba took out his own phone and swiped to the photos he had taken.

"Twin roses intertwined…." Conan muttered, zooming in to the picture of the pistol, his eyes narrowed.

"It seems…familiar…"

"It does? Do you remember where?" Hakuba demanded, watching the boy think.

"Roses, roses…silver roses…twin….FBI?" Conan blinked in surprise at his random conclusion and Hakuba did the same.

"FBI? What does this have to do with FBI?"

"I-I um…my friend's dad has connections with the FBI, he used to have files all over the place. I remember this design from a file." He stammered out his explanation and Hakuba just nodded, choosing not to question his hesitation.

"Do you think we can get this file?"

"I have an even better idea." Conan smiled and clicked through his contacts and brought the phone to his ears.

"Ah hello? Jodie-sensei?" The FBI had left Japan half a year ago. Jodie said that they would continue their investigation on the Organization from the States where they had more resources.

"Ah! Cool Kid! What's up? Have you got information to share?" The American agent's voice was chipper and Conan couldn't help but crack a small smile.

"I'm afraid not, Jodie-sensei. Actually, I was hoping you could provide me with some information instead."

"Ooo? Information that Cool Kid doesn't know? I wonder what it might be? "

"A twin rose insignia with their roots intertwined. Heard of it?" He heard the sudden sharp intake of breath from the other side and narrowed his eyes in concern.

"Jodie…sensei?" He changed it to loudspeaker when Hakuba tapped his shoulder.

"….Where…did you see this insignia, Conan-kun?" Her voice was now quiet and serious as she said Conan's name.

"We have someone here that might've been kidnapped by this group."

"What? Kidnapped? Since when? How many days has it been? Have they contacted you at all?" The flurry of questions came quickly and the two detectives were taken back by the sudden urgency.

"T-today is the second day and they contacted us yesterday via video feed." Hakuba stammered out.

"Who is that?" Jodie demanded upon hearing the new voice.

"That's a detective that I'm investigating with, Hakuba Saguru. It's fine, Jodie-sensei just tell us." Conan urged hastily.

"Who is this victim? Usually, people taken by this group aren't discovered to be missing for a while."

Hakuba and Conan exchanged glances before Conan turned back to the phone.

"It's Kaitou Kid, Jodie-sensei."

They heard the FBI agent curse in English.

"Get your Police Force on the line as well. Wait, we'll put a video feed through, but they need to hear this too."

"But-"

"No, Cool Kid, this isn't something you and your detective friend can do yourselves. It's beyond your capabilities." She said sternly.

"…Alright, I'll patch you through in a few minutes, okay Jodie-sensei?"

"That sounds fine, Conan-kun." With that, they both hung up.

"Let's go Hakuba-niichan; we don't have time to waste."

The British detective was already heading for the conference doors.

* * *

He couldn't feel.

He couldn't move.

He couldn't think.

After they had stopped the video feed, they had cut the ropes tying him up and he barely remembered anything else.

All, he could recall was pain and his mind collapsing in on itself.

He tried to crawl away, still screaming his lungs out.

He watched as the bruises on his arms slowly become lighter in front of his eyes. He felt everything in his body move faster than normal. It felt as if his insides were liquefying and his bones were crumbling.

And it burned.

Everything was hot and the lights blinded his eyes.

He clawed at his neck, wishing for water to wet his parched throat so he could scream some more.

"Stop it!" Strong hands grabbed his and pulled them away from his neck.

"Is he suicidal or something? Tied him up some more! Why did you untie him?"

"Can you make him shut up? I don't remember any of them ever reacting this badly." He heard another voice mutter in English.

"It can't be helped. None of them had ever received the amount of wounds he did."

"Will he survive?"

"I think so."

"If he makes it through the night then the other effects will fall into place as well."

_It burns, it burns so much. I can't breathe, make it stop._

"For fuck's sake, make him shut up!"

He felt his mouth being covered by a piece of fabric that was tightly tied. The burning intensified and his screams came out muffled. All the foreign voices around him were melting into one another and he barely understood what was being said.

He heard his heart pound feverishly as sweat dripped down his forehead, mixing in with the dried blood and the tears streaming from his eyes.

_Make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop. Please please please. _

"I kinda like him like this though. A shivering, blushing, crying mess." He heard another voice say with a lewd chuckle.

"Hell yeah, I could take him right here and now."

"Who said we can't?"

"I'd do him right now."

"Hey, we all want a piece of him, screw off."

"You fuck off, I'm sure your bitch in room fifteen is still waiting for you."

"You wanna fight, bastard?"

"Why don't you all go jerk off in a corner? We have business to finish here."

"…Right."

"So pretty…" He felt a hand running up his thigh and moaned in pain as the touch sent painful shocks through his mind.

"Oh did you hear that? I think he likes it!"

_No, no! I didn't like it! It hurts, stop!_

"He's moving his head, maybe that's a yes, the little slut!"

_No! No! It's a No!_

"I think we have time for lesson number three."

"I think more than one instructor is necessary."

_No!_

* * *

"It's been a while Jodie-san." Megure greeted the woman on the large screen in the conference room.

"It has, inspector. I hope you're all doing fine." She smiled and nodded to all the other officers in the room.

"You said you had information on this case?" Nakamori spoke, cutting to the chase.

"Yes, your intelligent detective Hakuba-san called us and told us about the situation." Hakuba raised an eyebrow at Conan who just smiled back nervously.

"Well? What are we dealing with here?" Nakamori asked again, his voice tired beyond belief.

Jodie seemed to sympathize and opened her mouth to continue, hesitatingly for a moment.

"This insignia belongs to…." She bit her lip, looking uncertain.

"It belongs to?" Megure repeated, prompting her to continue.

"It belongs to…. 'Les Chaînes D'ombres', the Chain of Shadows. One of the oldest still-running brothels in France."

**It's too long; ugh I have to stop it here if I still want to pass anything related to school this week. I'm still waiting for my score on the Physics final that I pretty much failed ;_; I also want to watch the FIFA...*sobs***

**I feel like my deduction on French furniture is really freaking weak. *Kicks myself into a hole* So yeah brothel in France...I'm sorry people from France *offers cookies* **

**Reviews and suggestions are appreciated, thank you. I'll probably have the next chapter up after the 23****rd**** *hugs for all***


	4. Day 02 Cont

**Rejuvenate Chapter 4**

**Woohoo exams are doneeee. *Dances around crazily* But then I look at the amount of summer assignments given to us by next year's AP courses. Taking three of them might not be the best idea. OTL **

**I spent yesterday screaming my lungs out and melting into a disgusting puddle over the US vs. Portugal Game. Very intense! **

**Warnings: Some gore and trauma. Spelling and grammar mistakes may be present. **

**Enjoy!**

_Day 02 Cont._

The room grew dead silent as the FBI agent's words truly sank in.

"A b-brothel?" A shaky voice spoke up and the dam was broken.

Numerous yells erupted as the police inspectors discussed new possibilities while others let their outrage be known.

"What the hell are you talking about? Brothels are illegal, right?" Nakamori shouted over the noise and people began to settle again, eagerly waiting to soak up more information.

They all knew the horrors that came with brothels. Brothels were, simply put, prostitute houses. They were the rage of many countries back in the 1900s. It was especially prevalent during the World Wars. Their own country had been no exception and they knew that, no matter how much information had been censored. It had been made illegal in 1956, but the thought of such a thing still running on such a large-sale sent shivers down their spines.

Jodie's face looked conflicted again as she thought about what to say.

"Y-yes, but…"

"But what damn it!" Nakamori was close to losing it. Having Kid captured was bad enough. Now the possibly underage thief was in a brothel. This was fucking sick.

"There has always been one brothel still functioning in France. They're been operating for several centuries. We only know about this because of…a different case that involved a US citizen kidnapped by this group. They work underground and follow a strict way of living similar to the mafia. The French government has tried to stop them for a very long time and we have offered our help as well. But…they are very difficult to track down." She looked up apologetically.

"We haven't been able to stop them for over fifty years."

Nakamori cursed loudly, fist slamming down on the desk hard.

"Over fifty years? And nothing?" Megure sounded unconvinced as he narrowed his eyes towards the screen.

"We left most of the investigation to the French since it technically isn't our jurisdiction. We've been tracking down other….cases." She spared Conan a quick glance and the boy returned it knowingly as Hakuba watched on with curiosity.

"Shit. Well obviously they haven't caught the bastards." Nakamori muttered as he sifted through the files the police department had begun to create on the case.

"Wait, if he was captured for a brothel, why was he beaten and tortured?" Mouri spoke up for the first time and all eyes turned to him. When Conan and Hakuba had burst through the door, he had protested the boy's presence but eventually backed down when noticing the determination in his eyes. "Don't they usually want servants who are…unmarred?"

They all recalled the horrible wounds and bruises that decorated the thief's body. There was no way some of those would disappear without leaving scars.

"That is true; a servant with scars and broken bones won't be able to please." Hakuba spat out the words bitterly. He hated the idea of Kuroba being reduced to a sex slave. The thief was a free creature, he didn't belong to anyone.

"That's the thing. Their technology is off the charts. It's nothing like what our scientists have seen before. They will beat a new service person until they can longer put up a good struggle. But they have a chemical drug procedure that will clean and mend all the wounds within twenty-four hours."

Murmurs of disbelief arose. Was such a drug even possible? With such a drug, could a new army of super soldiers be created?

Conan narrowed his eyes. He'd have to ask Haibara about this later.

"But why would they leave evidence?"

"That is their style, their signature mark. They taunt us all by leaving their twin roses insignia. It's a game to them. They enjoy playing this game of hide and seek." Jodie deduced similarly to what Hakuba had said the other day, cursing with a hiss.

"Wait wait, hold up. You said something about a super-healing drug. Care to explain more on that?" Mouri shouted over the mutters again.

She grew paler as she shuddered.

"We didn't know about this drug until recently. Two decades ago, we were able to obtain a vial of the chemical. We found out its effects by having it analyzed by the best. It is called 'Rejuvenate' within the brothel or RJV for short. It is a drug that they have developed personally within their own ranks. It is used to heal the wounds they inflict on their new servants. It can heal wounds at extraordinary rates… It's fascinating. After their servants have healed, they can resume conditioning them without worrying about killing them accidently."

"That drug sounds like it can become a biological weapon." Hakuba said grimly.

"If it were, I'd think the government would be mass-producing it by now." Jodie said with a humorless laugh before sobering.

"But there is one side effect." She stopped, a pained look coming onto her face.

"Memory deterioration. Within a month, the victim will lose all memories of a previous life before the brothel. This will ensure absolute loyalty."

"N-no way…" Nakamori made a low choking sound and Hakuba shook his head unconsciously in shock. The reactions of the police department varied similarly.

"A month? Only….a month?" Conan whispered softly.

"I'm afraid so-"

"No! There must be something else." He snapped loudly, held back only by Hakuba's hand on his shoulder. He trailed off quietly and he felt the stares of the police on his back.

They didn't understand. They saw him as a sad little nine year old. Upset that the criminal he had been chasing for the past two years is going to disappear. But no. It ran deeper than that. Kaitou Kid was a friend. He had saved Conan from going off the cliff. There had to be a way to save him too.

"There must be a way…."

"There is."

They all perked up, a small glimmer of hope reflecting in their eyes.

"There are two ways to fully cure the side effect of the drug. The French government was able to develop a cure for RJV. They call it 'Return' and it will help the victim regain the memories he or she lost gradually without any damaging side effects. It will still work up to the last day of the month from the time the drug was administered."

The faces of many officers immediately lightened as they grinned at one another at the thought of a cure. Maybe they could get Kid back.

"So, you think we can have access to this cure? I-if we negotiated-"Nakamori began, his tone was hopeful.

"They were very difficult to process. It took them nearly two decades to do so. There are only two vials of Return in existence and are kept under strict surveillance." Jodie bit her lip, watching the shine of optimism disappear with a pained ache in her chest.

"And they might not be so eager to give up one of their precious vials for a…criminal."

The revived energy dissipated again as the officers deflated in a sign of despair.

"What's the other option?" Hakuba whispered, reminding everyone that there was another possibility.

Jodie looked sick and was obviously trying to avoid revealing this second option.

"The other way is much more accessible...I guess in case their own people were injected with it by accident. The drug can be neutralized by a process that will use natural body fluids to take over Rejuvenate."

Confusion was etched across the officers' expressions while shock dawned on the two detectives' face.

"Intercourse." She choked out.

Harsh curses and protests echoed across the conference room in a mess of chaos.

"I'm guessing exchange of bodily fluids during that one month period at the brothel is prohibited then." Conan muttered to Hakuba amidst the noise.

"Either that or extreme precaution." The British detective agreed solemnly.

"Well, what do we do now? We can't just fucking stand here." Nakamori scowled, the concern apparent on his face for everyone to see.

"We only have a month damn it. It's already been two days since they injected him, hasn't it?" Mouri snapped back.

"We'll re-attempt to trace the video feed from the tablet." The tech division inspector said gruffly.

"We'll go through our databases dating back to as far as we have to. There might've been similar cases." Satou offered, Takagi nodding in agreement.

"We'll be glad to offer our assistance on finding Kid." Jodie said firmly and Megure nodded gratefully.

"We're in debt to you, Jodie-san. Thank you very much."

"We'll keep in contact." The FBI agent nodded, turning to give Conan a look before ending the video call.

The Metropolitan Police Department went straight to work.

One officer went to the whiteboard and opened a marker.

He wrote Day 02 on the board and underlined it deeply. Everyone in the room paused to give the words a glance, their faces held a haunted look of determination, feeling the deadline looming over their heads.

"We don't have much time." Hakuba whispered.

"No, we don't." Conan muttered, turning to leave the room.

"Where are you going?"

"To make a phone call."

* * *

"Of course you'd call me immediately, Cool Kid. You're sharp." Jodie's voice came from the loudspeaker of the phone.

"You were holding off some information." Conan stated and Hakuba raised an eyebrow. He really did have to wonder how the nine year old had so many connections.

"Yes, you deduced correctly." She gave a tired giggle before sighing.

"We actually have a contact that might be able to help you out."

Conan and Hakuba gave each other a glance.

"Why didn't you tell the police when we were in there?" Hakuba said, almost accusingly.

"I had reasons!" Came Jodie's huffy reply before she continued calmly.

"This consultant of ours is very...I guess you can say...unorthodox. I was afraid your police department might not take assistance from this contact too kindly. They aren't too fond of the police either. So I was hoping Cool Kid could talk to them first. Then you can decide if you want to bring the matter to the police."

"Is this consultant...going to be difficult to convince?" Conan asked worriedly. They didn't have much time at all.

"Since it's the Kaitou Kid in trouble...I'm sure our contact will be willing to help."

* * *

"...What are you guys doing?"

Kid could barely focus on anything anymore. His head was pounding furiously and his body was trembling from exhaustion. His throat had stopped gracing him with the ability to scream a long time ago. The drug they had injected into his system had become a dull ache that left him feeling uneasy. There was something in there…picking his mind apart.

He blinked slowly, trying to focus on the figure that stood beyond his reach. He could barely see past the hoard of men pinning him down on the carpeted floor.

"M-Mr. Blanc!"

"Monsieur Blanc..."

"We thought you were on a business meeting."

"Did you not hear me correctly? I said what the fuck are you doing."

He turned his head with slight confusion, watching the men tense in fear. And he knew…that this Mr. Blanc was someone that shouldn't be messed around with.

"..."

No one dare spoke. The blonde one straddling him finally swallowed and opened his mouth, a nervous giggle leaving his throat.

"W-we thought it would be the perfect time to do some more conditioning-"

BANG

He watched in shock as red clouded his vision. It burned as the liquid fell into his eyes, making him let out a soft whine as he reached up to rub them.

The man that was on top of him, the man that had been whispering dirty words and stroking him perversely, the man who had looked so confident, was dead.

His face was a mess of gore and crimson as he toppled off the thief in a bloody heap.

His face was splattered with the smell of rust and iron. And he saw. He saw the large gaping hole that destroyed the features of the once handsome man. He saw the half torn off mouth with teeth hanging out and-

He nearly fainted.

Instead, he rolled onto his stomach, choking around the gag, tears gathering at the edges of his eyes as blood dripped down his cheeks

He wanted nothing more than to forget everything.

"You think you guys are special?" Mr. Blanc spoke to the deathly silent men.

He stalked forward like a predator studying his prey before going in for the kill. They all shook in terror, ready to collapse on their knees to beg for forgiveness.

"A-apologies, Monsieur! We-" The one that stammered squeaked when the gun was trained onto his forehead. He immediately dropped to his knees, forehead pressed against the carpet, his hands held over his head as he trembled.

"We what? Forgot the rules? That the effects of the drug will be neutralized?" He hissed, his cold grey eyes gleaming.

"You're all so cocky." He chuckled darkly, making his way over to the thief. He kicked aside the corpse of the man with his brains splattered in the ground. He knelt down.

Surprisingly, his movements were gentle. He collected the shaking thief is his arms, studying him.

The meager pieces of clothes he had been wearing were close to being torn off completely. His arms were quivering uncontrollably due to the drug. But he could see the already yellowing bruises that were healing. The drug was in effect.

The thief's eyes were glassy from shock and exhaustion. He was staring into a distance beyond the man.

"Poor thing." He cooed softly, cupping the child's ears in his hands, preventing the thief from listening. Not that Kid was trying to focus anymore anyways.

He pulled Kid to his chest in an almost protective gesture. He turned back to glare at the trembling men. They were all kneeling now.

"Just because you are clients that are part of the ranks doesn't mean you can do as you please." His scowl was malicious and held a darkness that made them all quake.

"We don't damage our goods just because we can heal then immediately." He pressed his lips against the top of the thief's spiky hair endearingly. One hand moved to remove the makeshift cloth gag. A trail of saliva and bile came with it.

"You disgusting pigs are never allowed to touch this boy ever again."

The relief in the men's eyes shone.

"T-thank you Monsieur!"

"God have mercy! My gratitude!"

"Thank you, Mr. Blanc!"

The chorus of gracious words came in a flurry.

"Get out of my sight."

And they did immediately, scrambling on all four as they pushed each other, all trying to leave the room first.

Only one stayed.

"Oh dear oh dear, that stain is going to be hard to get out." The remaining man tsked softly with a frown.

"Mr. Kousuke, do you have a death wish?"

The Japanese man smiled happily.

"They needed an example or they wouldn't have learned their lesson." He explained.

"Is that why you didn't step in?"

"You underestimate me, Mr. Blanc. If they attempted intercourse without proper preparations, I would've immediately blow their heads in. I know the drug as well as you do, sir."

"Hmm..." Mr. Blanc smiled, removing his hands from the thief's ears.

"The drug has stabilized." He noted, watching the child sleep, too exhausted to stay awake. His arms were not shaking noticeably anymore. The cuts had stopped bleeding.

"So it has." Mr. Kousuke hummed in amusement.

"He should be ready for clients by next week."

"…He would still have his memories then. Would he be compliant?"

"It is fine. He will be confused, but not completely obedient. Alas, a simple doll is too boring, is it not?"

"Yes it would be too boring."

"This child is an interesting one. So beautiful..." He gently removed the broken monocle, tracing every contour of the thief's face. He took out a jewelry case, placing the eyepiece in before pocketing it again.

"I'll be keeping him with me." He gave the Japanese man a glance and the latter just smiled.

"It's a rare sight Mr. Blanc, to see you indulging in the services."

"Well, I suppose you are lucky enough to witness it." Mr. Blanc chuckled, lifting the unconscious thief in his arms, leaving the room.

Mr. Kousuke sighed, looking back at the dead body with a grimace.

"Always leaving me with clean up duty."

* * *

"The contact has agreed to meet you!" The FBI agent sounded happy as she told the two detectives the news.

Mouri had gone home by himself after Conan had insisted on staying behind to hang out with Hakuba.

The two were currently sitting in a cafe for lunch, waiting until Jodie called them with more news.

"They have? That's great!" Conan grinned, taking another bite of his lemon pie.

"Where?" Hakuba cut in, taking a sip from his cup of tea.

"The contact wants you two to come alone. Which means no police. They don't trust you enough yet it seems...anyways the location is at Touto Tower at 1 am tonight."

"1 am?"

"Tonight?"

"The consultant is very cautious. But I'm positive they will help. Call me later and tell me how it went. Bye bye!"

Conan ended the call, taking a sip from his iced coffee.

Hakuba sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He hoped this consultant would have valuable information. They can't afford to waste anymore time.

"I guess it's going to be an all-nighter for us, Conan-kun."

The nine year old gave him a sad grin, shaking his glass of coffee.

"Better stock up on that paint-thinner coffee then, Hakuba-niichan."

**This chapter was hard to write Hehehehe...the pacing is all off and the sentences are awkward...I'm sorry OTL I promise not all chapters will be so poorly written. That is also why this chapter is much shorter than the last one. That Russian exam has me all tired. But it was very easy so I'm glad ^^ **

**I hope someone doesn't go searching through my history and see prostitution and get the wrong idea. OTL Gotta do that research.**

**I wonder who this mysterious consultant is uhuehuehue~ **

**Suggestions are welcomed and reviews are appreciated. Thank you very much!**


	5. Day 03

**Rejuvenate Chapter 5 **

**Hey guys. Sorry for the huge delay. If you checked out my profile, you'd know why.**

**So yeah, I'm in California right now. It's pretty fun. So much fun that I really haven't had time to sit down and just write so I apologize, I'm on vacation. Seeing a friend I haven't seen in seven years is so weird. We used to have so much fun and so much to talk about. Now it's all quiet and awkward orz. But after like eight days we finally started cracking jokes and snarking at each other. We even climbed to a waterfall and toured a battleship by ourselves. ^^ Really glad we sort of reconciled. But after another three days, I had to leave for a different part of California. So we said good-bye. It was pretty sad but he and his family promised to visit in another two years. Me and him and our siblings plus his mother are graduating from (different levels of course) school (What a nice coincidence) so we will have a large graduation party in New York. I'm already excited! **

**I went to Universal Studios and took pictures with a talking, moving Optimus Prime too! :D**

**And the jet lag is terrible; I'm still trying to catch up on sleep. I can barely keep my eyes open on some days ehehehe…. But I'm currently in Los Angeles, planning to go to San Diego soon (Missed Comic Con…damn it.) **

**But that's enough about my personal life. Sorry that it was so long (I really have nowhere else I can share this OTL) Enjoy the chapter. I apologize for any grammar and/or spelling mistakes. **

_Day 03_

The Touto Tower was usually a bustling attraction, famous for the wonderful café coffee, funny mascots and of course the magnificent view.

But at the dead of night with the gates locked tightly hours ago, it was silent.

"I can't believe we just did that." Hakuba muttered to himself with a scowl. He crawled out of the air vents while his muscles protested, body aching from the curled up position he had assumed for the past two hours.

"It's a national landmark, Hakuba-niichan. The security is pretty tight. Hiding in the janitor's closet wouldn't have cut it." Conan snickered, dropping to the bathroom floor after him.

"It would've been much less crowded." Hakuba sniffed and brushed his coat to get rid of the dust. He vaguely wondered how Kuroba endured crawling these air vents.

Thinking about Kuroba made his chest constrict painfully. The thief couldn't even crawl through vents now. Hell, he probably couldn't even leave a room now. Kuroba was something like a caged bird. And birds don't belong in cages.

"Don't wander too far, this is one of the few blind spots. We have to watch the cameras." Conan warned Hakuba as if he were the adult in this situation. They opened the bathroom door slowly, knowing there were no cameras at this corner.

"Yes yes. The roof was it?" Hakuba felt that he should've brought something to protect him and Conan. A gun or a stick or maybe even one of Bayaa's scones-those things could break a skull (not that he ever told her so).

Conan nodded and gestured for Hakuba to take the lead. The British detective knew the boy would've been perfectly fine leading, but he nodded, appreciating the gesture.

He walked ahead of Conan, glancing at every darken corner for the all-seeing eyes of the camera.

"Do you think this contact will really help us?" Conan asked.

Hakuba paused in his walking and Conan watched him carefully.

"They have to. We have no other options." The Brit whispered, his fists were clenched tightly. This was their only chance in finding any sort of clue on Les Chaînes D'ombres. This was already the start of the third day. A month wasn't that much time.

"Are the stairways locked?" Conan muttered as they passed by the staircase doors.

A quick pull proved affirmative and Hakuba cursed.

"Let's hope the elevators are open then." Hakuba said sarcastically. If the staircase doors were locked, what are the odds that the elevators still worked?

Making sure to press himself flush against the wall, he avoided the camera and pressed the elevator button. With a sigh, he slid to the floor as Conan cracked a small grin, plopping down beside him.

"This is so bloody nerve-wracking. How the hell does he do it?"

Conan shrugged in return, not feeling the need to tell the other detective about how many times he had done this before.

"Well the elevator will most likely not work. How will we get up to the roof the-"

A loud ding echoed through the halls, making the two flinched. A wave of light flooded out, illuminating the red metal of the tower.

They gave each other a glance in astonishment and blurted out their deductions at the same time.

"It's a trick."

"They want us to use the elevator."

They turned back to look at the open doors that welcomed them with soft music.

"There are cameras in there, Hakuba-niichan." Conan said warily.

"If they had access to the elevator control panel, they might've disabled the cameras as well. The security room is right next door."

"So all the cameras are probably off…unless the contact wants us caught." Conan eyed the camera with suspicion. Hakuba sighed and stepped through the open door carefully. Conan raised an eyebrow at the taller teen.

"We came this far. Might as well give it a shot. I don't think the consultant would call us all the way here just to drop us down the tower." Hakuba sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"They might." Conan muttered but stepped through the doors nevertheless.

The doors closed with a soft ping and the elevator began to move up.

A soft voice began to supply the two detectives details about the Touto Tower, soft soothing music playing in the background.

"I don't really see how the elevator is better than the staircase. Could there be a hidden message here…" Hakuba mumbled to himself, poking at the poster on the wall.

"Our consultant likes to play games." Conan glared at the security camera with a scowl. The moment he stepped into the moving prison, he had an uneasy feeling.

The lights flickered.

"And it starts." Hakuba groaned, bracing himself against the wall as the elevator shook slightly. The voice from the speakers was quiet now.

"Shit." He heard Conan hiss as a particularly strong tremor made the boy fall on his behind.

The lights flickered again and the elevator shook even more violently.

"Y-you don't think they're really going to drop us, r-right?" Hakuba gulped as another vibration sent him to the ground as well. The metal cage swayed back and forth.

"They have emergency clamps in case of earthquakes, w-we'll be fine." Conan let out a yelp as Hakuba slammed against him.

"Apologies." The Brit muttered, throwing himself to the other side of the elevator in an attempt to bring a sense of balance-and also to avoid squishing the child.

The lights turned off and they were enveloped in darkness. The tremors also stopped.

The only thing they heard was the harsh gasps of their own breath.

"What the hell was that?" Hakuba cursed under his breath as he got to his feet unsteadily.

"Jodie-sensei did say that…the consultant was…unorthodox." Hakuba heard Conan struggle to his feet as well.

"Does unorthodox mean giving people free earthquake simulator rides?" He said dryly and heard Conan snort.

He jumped with he heard Conan yelp. He had never heard the boy make such a high pitch noise before.

"Conan…kun?" He gulped, looking around to no avail. It was pitch black.

"D-did you just breathe down my neck, H-hakuba-niichan?"

It took a moment for Hakuba to tell Conan his answer.

There was a pregnant pause before a bright light shined in Hakuba's direction, momentarily blinding him. Conan was at his side in seconds, his wristwatch glowing intensely.

"Something did." He let out a shaky breath.

They calmed their breathing in hopes of figuring out some sort of logical explanation.

With their breathing soft, they finally heard it-the raggedly, wet gasps that didn't belong to either of them.

Conan immediately turned his watch towards the direction of the grunts.

"Bloody fu-"

They pressed themselves against the corner of the elevator with calculating eyes.

A figure stood at the corner where Conan was at only mere moments ago.

It was a woman, judging from the slim frame. Tuffs of red hair stuck out of the bandages that were wrapped around her head and entire body. She was turned away from the two, her pale back facing the two detectives.

The bandages were soaked in crimson.

"It's a joke, she probably crawled through the air vent." Hakuba whispered, moving to stand in front of the boy protectively.

"While the lights were off." Conan agreed, keeping his watch trained on her.

Her shoulders twitched as her head cocked to its side. The two jumped with very masculine yelps.

They watched in silence as the head turned and turned and turned…

"It's a prosthetic prop, it's a prosthetic prop that turns!" Conan rationalized and Hakuba nodded vehemently as the head turned a full 360 degrees.

The head was lowered and the two held a collective breath.

No one breathed, not even the woman.

Then her head snapped up and her mouth opened to let out a shrill scream, blood dripping out as she did so. Her eyes were rotting holes with maggots crawling out.

"Oh my god!" Hakuba squeaked, lifting one arm to prevent the blood from flying into his face.

The rest of the woman's body turned to correctly match the head's position. With shaking bandaged arms, the woman charged forward, mouth still open with a scream at her spilt lip.

"Shit!" Conan hissed, bringing the tranquilizer up.

The lights flickered on, momentarily blinding the two.

They blinked groggily several times then snapped into attention.

They were the only ones in the elevator.

"…What?" Conan called out, perfectly summing up how Hakuba was also feeling.

The lights flickered again.

"Again?" Hakuba muttered and made a move to press his hands against every panel of the elevator walls.

"There must be a trap door somewhere here." He pushed against one wall while Conan took the other side.

The lights turned off.

"Shit." Hakuba cursed and Conan made his way back to the Brit immediately.

"I have night vision on my glasses. We can see where she's coming from." Hakuba watched Conan's glasses glow on with a green glint.

Conan blinked as the blurry images registered. He saw Hakuba standing beside him and turned to glance around the entire elevator.

Nothing.

"There's nothing yet…" Conan took a shaky breath, bringing his watch up again.

"I thought the consultant wanted to help us. Not send us running for therapy."

Something cold dripped onto Conan's cheek and slid down, sending chills up his spine.

"Shit! Up there!" He yelled and looked up.

The lights turned back on, only this time with much more intensity than it should have.

Conan hissed, yanking his glasses off and Hakuba shielded his eyes from the blinding shine.

Another screech sounded and they looked up in horror as the woman from before stared down at them with her gouged out eyes.

She began falling, her arms outstretched.

The two closed their eyes with a wince.

The lights turned off and flicked back on within a second.

The woman was gone.

The elevator doors opened with a ding and the voice from the speakers resumed.

"Out out out!" Hakuba hissed and placed his hands against Conan's back, lightly prompting him to get out of the elevator quicker.

They were on their knees as the adrenaline died down. The windy rooftop chill blew by their necks teasingly and they shivered.

"O-okay, you had your fun. Now help us!" Hakuba got up shakily with a glare, helping Conan to his feet.

"Impressive work. As expected of the 'Showa Era's Woman of Twenty Faces', Phantom Lady." Conan took an unsteady breath, looking around the empty balcony. He touched the drop of fake blood on his face and licked it. It tasted like cherry.

She appeared without any big explosion or flourish. One moment she wasn't there, next she was.

The two boys stood their ground, watching the legendary Lady phantom in hidden awe.

"…You...will give us help?" Hakuba asked softly after another few seconds of silence.

The Lady, petite but very intimidating, wore strip after strip of pristine white bandages. A small red fur coat with only one sleeve and pants with only one pants leg was the only other source of color. Small tuffs of dark hair protruded from the layers of bandages on the top part of her face. Her lips were blood red and stretched into an easy smirk that reminded the two of a certain thief.

"Of course." Her voice was velvety and strong. She was the one in control of this situation and she made sure the detectives understood that.

They gulped in apprehension of what was to come.

* * *

Kuroba Chikage studied the two boys in front of her, emotions hidden well behind her bandaged face.

It has been years since she donned this costume. She had never stopped working out so her body was still slim and trained. She wondered if she could pull off a heist now without any difficulties.

But now was not the time to wonder about these things.

Kaito…. she had to worry about Kaito.

Her chest ached at the thought of her precious son, the trickster that inherited so much of his father's looks. He was the only light in her life left. No amount of travelling and magic shows could replace him.

And yet…she had left him. She had left him on his own to take care of Toichi's legacy all by himself while she ran away to the States in order to deal with the pain. She had selfishly left her son to deal with the Kaitou Kid business. She had thought he was capable of dealing with everything by himself.

She wasn't home when he disappeared four days ago. She didn't even know. The guilt burned her heart.

She was eating dinner in New York when she got the call from the FBI. They had always kept her information on file after that one case she assisted in solving. They also knew she used to work with the Kaitou Kid before her retirement.

Kaitou Kid was gone. They had told her. The Chain of Shadows had kidnapped him. We need your help.

She barely kept her voice steady as she teasingly said she would have to test the two detectives that would be meeting her.

On the inside, she was crying.

But she couldn't break character. She had to be the horror filled Lady Phantom that made everything into a game.

Her son's life was not a game.

She would do everything in her power to save him.

She herself couldn't go to France. It had been almost a decade since she last associated with the Underworld. The last time was in a fit of despair after Toichi's death. She had called her many contacts, seething with a murderous rage as she sought information to plot out revenge. But then she remembered her son. Her Kaito, barely nine years old, hugging onto her legs with unshed tears in his large innocent eyes.

_Mommy? What's wrong? You look scary….m-mommy? Don't cry mommy…please mommy..._

She dropped the phone and hugged him tight. They cried together on the kitchen floor.

She never contacted the others again.

She would not be able to infiltrate Les Chaînes D'ombres. She wasn't as agile as she was in her prime. She couldn't risk getting caught herself and give the bastards another thing to hold against Kaito.

It was going to be difficult, but she decided to trust someone else to bring her precious boy home.

She withdrew from her thoughts and observed the two boys that were waiting for her to answer.

The British one, she knew from the papers. She had kept track of the teen when he first started appearing at her son's heists. Call it over-protective, but Chikage just wanted to have files on every potential threat. Hakuba wasn't a bad kid. He had been obnoxious two years ago-Back then Chikage had really wanted to turn his mansion into a haunted house-but he had gotten better over the years. He was more mature now. His deductions are much more accurate now and thank god he is no longer a stick in the mud.

And from what she could tell from the rare times that she was in Japan, he cared for Kaito. The shine in his amber eyes every time Kaito spoke. Her son entranced him. Even if he was present at every Kid heist, lunging at Kaito with a scowl, he worried for Kaito's well being. She could trust him.

The other one…

She remembered when her son used to call her after every heist the little boy went to. Kaito was always complaining about soccer ball wounds and a little demon on a skateboard. At first, she didn't believe a little boy could cause so much damage to the Kaitou Kid. But after secretly attending a few heists, she understood what a little terror Edogawa Conan is. Her son had also told him his suspicions on who the boy might actually be. And that theory had her in disbelief. This child just got more and more interesting.

Looking at Conan gave her chills. He looked so similar to Kaito. If his hair was messier…if he took off the glasses…She had to stop herself from moving forward to rip off the glasses herself.

She pursed her lips and stalked forward, a forced smirk on her red lips.

"Kid's stuck in a brothel. The FBI said you'd have a clue on how to proceed. Please, Lady…" The boy said tiredly, causing the Phantom to stop in her tracks.

The hollow look didn't belong in a nine year old's eyes. Her own eyes widen as she thought back to ten years ago.

_Mommy…I miss him so much…mommy don't be sad…mommy don't cry..._

Her motherly instincts nearly kicked in and she almost hugged the boy. Instead, she reached down and ruffled his hair.

_Keep it professional. _She told herself constantly. _Keep it professional._

"Don't worry boy. I'm not going to play hooky any time soon."

The boy gave a small smile at her reply. Hakuba nodded gratefully towards her before getting down to business.

"What should we do?" He asked.

She took a deep breath and began.

"I used to work exclusively in France. I know the workings of the system inside and out. The streets, the underground, it's a city of games. Don't get yourself caught up in the manipulation. You won't make it out in one piece."

"W-wait hold on, we're going to France?" Conan squeaked, worried about something Chikage couldn't pinpoint.

"That's the only way. The Chain of Shadows is in France. The only way you'll be able to save…Kid would be infiltrating."

"That is the most logical course of action. We should call Nakamori-keibu and –"

"I'm afraid your police won't be much help." She cut Hakuba off sternly.

"….That is true…I doubt that anyone on the task force has an intensive education in the French language. If the task force were to go….they'd scream suspicion." Hakuba muttered and the Phantom nodded.

"Can't we have the French Police help?" Conan asked and was taken back by the Lady thief's bitter bark of laughter.

"Never. They will probably have as much luck as your task force." She remembered running circles around that lot and doubted they would be able to infiltrate the Shadows successfully. She also fondly recalled many faces from the French Task Force in charge of catching her. She'd hate for any of them to die pointlessly.

"They've been around for centuries. How do you think they accomplished that? Bribery. You're more likely to have the cops turn a blind eye on you as the Shadows shoot you down than get help from them."

Hakuba gulped, looking at the floor with hopelessness written across his face. The Lady's eyes soften a bit as she breathed out from her nose.

"Hey, don't look so down pretty boy. I said I'd help, right?" She sighed and with a simple flourish she made two tickets appear.

"These are?" Conan inquired.

"Two first class tickets to Paris, France. I took the liberty of booking one with your passport, pretty boy." She smiled in amusement as she watched Hakuba sputter in shock. Then she turned to Conan with a frown. The boy swallowed in return.

She had searched for Edogawa Conan's passport. There was no such thing. Edogawa Conan did not exist. But she did find…

She handed Conan's ticket to him personally, making sure Hakuba could not see the name _Kudo Shinichi_ neatly printed on the top of the ticket. She grinned widely when she saw the boy's eyes widen to the size of snow globes. Her suspicions were confirmed.

"I have a surprise for you!" She announced teasingly and watched the boys deadpan with a giggle.

"These tickets can be used during any time this week. When you do arrive to Paris, I'll have a…hmm…I guess you could say friend pick you up and settle you in with more information."

"Another contact? This one isn't going to drop zombies at us, right?" Hakuba twitched.

"My associate wouldn't care for such things. It's my trademark. My special trademark. Call this number before you board your flight." She took out a black card and handed it to Hakuba.

The British teen took the card and the Lady's hand came unattached along with the card.

Hakuba squeaked, nearly dropping the card and the prosthetic arm in his haste. Conan bursted out in snickers. The Brit glared down at the laughing boy and coughed politely.

"I believe this belongs to you, my Lady." He plucked the card from the fake arm's bandaged fingers and handed the prop back to the Lady Phantom.

"You know where to find me." She smiled again, wanting nothing more than to go home and pray for the safety of her son.

"Thank you very much, Phantom Lady." Hakuba nodded and pocketed the ticket and card.

She turned to leave, feeling decades older in her tired state.

"Lady!"

She paused when she heard Conan's innocent little voice.

She cocked her head to the side, prompting the boy to continue.

"We'll find him for you, I promise. He'll come home safely. Don't worry!"

Her mask was breaking.

She kept her face turned so they could not see the silent tears that soaked her bandages.

The boy knew. She sniffed softly. He knew who she was.

Not a stranger.

Not a fellow thief.

Not a mentor.

But a mother.

She extended her arm and gave him a thumbs up.

She didn't trust her voice enough to speak. But her message was conveyed.

She trusted them.

They would find her boy.

* * *

The Lady disappeared the same way she appeared. She was here a moment ago then she was simply gone.

The two sighed in relief, letting the wind play with their hair.

"That went pretty well." Hakuba whispered after a moment.

Conan nodded.

"It's about two thirty now, Conan-kun." Hakuba checked his watch. After two years, he no longer felt the need to list the time down to the nearest tenth of a second. He looked down at Conan carefully. It seems that the boy knew a lot more about the Lady Phantom than he let on.

"I guess that is our cue to go home then." Conan smiled and yawned on cue, rubbing his eyes like an innocent nine year old. This prompted Hakuba to chuckle. He must be thinking too much into it.

"Knowing the Lady, she's probably going to restart the security system in a few minutes." Conan laughed humorlessly.

"Bloody hell, you're probably right." Hakuba scowled and started to sprint for the stairs. There was no way in the Queen's name he would take the elevator again. Luckily the staircase doors were unlocked now.

"You think I can crash at your place tonight? I don't think Ran-neechan would appreciate me sneaking back home at three in the morning." Conan asked as he drifted down the staircase after the Brit.

"Oh course, Conan-kun. I'm sure Bayaa will be glad to serve us some of her famous scones as a snack."

"….On second thought, can we stop by Welcome Burger first?"

* * *

Chikage watched the two boys run out of Touto Tower with a fond smile. She sighed from where she sat at the very tip top of the red landmark.

It truly was an amazing view.

Shaking her head, she took out a black cell phone and dialed a number she hadn't dialed in over a decade.

The phone kept ringing and ringing. Her heart was starting to sink by the eighth ring.

Then the other end picked up.

She heard rough breathing and grunts before a low feminine voice growled out in French.

"Only six people in the world have this number. Three of them are dead. I killed two of the three personally. Two are missing in action and the last one is currently under me. Which one do you think you are?"

The Lady chuckled under her breath, she missed this

"I miss you too, Noir." She giggled in Japanese.

There was a pause, only the sound of pants in the background broke it.

"Lady….I thought you dropped off the face of the Earth. The hell you calling for?" The female voice grew slightly less life-threatening as she switched to Japanese.

"I've been keeping low."

"Taking care of kids?" The French thief barked a laugh. Chikage tensed and did not reply.

"You really didn't think we knew? Your love life was the talk of the year. The whole Underworld was putting in bets. Hell I put in 100 Euros for you and the Kaitou Kid. And I won! And look at that. You have a fine little Kid Jr. running around. Aren't you a proud momma bird."

"Eh? Eh? Is that Lady-chan? Ladyyyy I missed you~! You should totally join me and Noir for a threes-" The male voice was cut off by a loud slap followed by two collective pleasure-filled groans.

"It's nice to see you alive and kicking, Lupin. Maybe some other time." She smiled, reveling in the nostalgia.

"So? What's with the call? Looking for a reunion or something? I'm sure I can call up the others and-"

"No. I called for a favor."

"A favor? The great Lady Phantom has a favor for poor little Chat Noir? My my, I'm intrigued." She heard shuffling on the other side and Lupin whining 'but we were just getting started, Noir!'

"Kaitou Kid has been taken to Les Chaînes D'ombres."

Chikage heard the sudden intake of breath.

"….How are you holding up?" Noir's voice was soft and gentle.

"….I'll live. I just…I just need him to be safe." She sighed tiredly.

"What can we do to help, Lady-chan?" She heard Lupin's voice on the other end. His tone was no longer joking either.

"Where are you two now?"

"Moscow. We were planning to do a double gig next week."

"I see…"

"Don't worry about that. What can we do?"

"…Thank you both. Really."

She heard Noir let out a soft laugh.

"It's the least I can do, old friend."

"You can count on me Lady-chan!"

She smiled involuntarily, feeling tears gather at the corner of her eyes.

"Here's what I need you to do…."

**And that's the end of this chapter. Sorry peeps, nothing about Kaito this chapter. I'll be getting back to him and his sad torture filled life soon. I have to wake up at the break of dawn to get to San Diego tomorrow! Thanks for reading. Also I mean no offense to the French and their police force. I'm sure you guys are doing an excellent job! Keep up the good work.**

**I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can. Let's all wish me a safe trip to San Diego!**

**Reviews will help fuel my desire to write more. Suggestions are welcomed. As to all those people that said Chat Noir gosh you guys are smarties *Hands out cookies and hugs all***


	6. Day 04

**Rejuvenate Chapter 6**

**Hello guys, I'm writing to you from the airplane ride back home. *Clapclap* Finally home after a month of California. Looks like it will be a while before I can write again. A lot of summer assignments to catch up on. Class starts in a few weeks.**

**Well, I didn't get to give you any Kaito last chapter, so this one will be a Kaito chapter. For all you Kaito!whump fans out there, this one is for you. For those waiting for the detectives to get some action in, the previous and next chapter is yours.**

**Thanks for waiting, loves. Enjoy.**

_Day 04_

The boy was like a doll. He thought in amusement.

Mr. Blanc smiled as he watched the Kaitou Kid sleep on the soft mattress in front of him.

A full day had past and the thief was still trapped under a sleep wrought by utter exhaustion. His dark eyes twitched every so often under closed lids. He muttered in his slumber frequently, hands clenched into trembling fists. His lean chest was quivering as if he was not getting enough air to breathe.

_Beautiful. _The man gently sat down on the bed, the mattress dipping forward and moving the thief invitingly closer. He reached out to brush the child's fringe to the side, feeling the dirt and dried blood crumble in his hands. He pulled the blanket off with his other hand. The rags he wore were stained with questionable liquids and dark maroon was a common sight on almost every part of exposed porcelain-like skin.

The boy would need a bath when he woke.

Kid moaned softly under his touch, his head tilting to the side in order to avoid his ministrations. But that was no problem, Blanc understood. Rejuvenate was not a gentle drug. No…it was merciless. Other clients and even his own colleagues believed that it was alright to abuse their services until they became a drooling, mindless mess on the floor -there was an appeal to that he had to admit.

But he would rather have a pet that had personality…a little fight.

He smiled at the soft noises the thief made and caressed his lightly bruised cheek. Most of the bruises were yellowing and healing so Blanc wasn't too worried. The cuts were nearly gone, only the baby pink of new skin remained but it would darken in due time. His skin was very soft.

Kid twitched some more, his lips curled into a frown as he fought the demons in his dreams.

Blanc knew what was happening. It happened all the time with Rejuvenate subjects.

Their memories are broken down as they sleep. Their past lives…flashing by their eyes like dreams before disappearing without a trace.

He wondered what memories the thief was struggling to keep right now.

"Shhh…. it's all right, accept it. Don't fight it." He whispered sweetly into the boy's ears. Kid unconsciously shook his head back and forth, muttering soft protests. His chest heaved up and down faster in his panicked state. But the excitement soon died down as a different dream flashed before the thief's mind.

Blanc's fingers trailed down to hover over the thief's uncovered left eye. The jewelry case that held the monocle was sitting innocently on the drawer besides the bed.

Right…soon…he isn't going to be Kid anymore.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out another jewelry case.

With gentle movements, he pulled the item out of the case and put an arm under Kid's neck-his skin felt so cold and clammy.

He clasped the eyepiece over the closed eye and connected the metal straps around the back of his head with an audible click. He tucked the key in his pockets with another smile.

Slowly…piece by piece…destroy his identity. Leave him with nothing to recognize.

He lowered his head back down on the pillow and left a soft peck on the thief's brow.

He then sat back and waited.

* * *

_Fear_

_It was suffocating him, leaving him without a breath._

_He couldn't see anything, not even his own two hands. But he could feel the cold, damp sweat that made his shirt stick to his back uncomfortably. His stomach was in knots, making him want to vomit._

_There was no escaping the void he had been thrown into._

_It was too dark, it was too deep._

_It was too endless._

_They were everywhere._

_He couldn't see it but he could feel it._

_Cold-his body was trembling. _

_Slimy-crawling up his limbs without any hint of pausing._

_Millions-they were eating him alive._

_And they snarled-_help_-and bit-_god someone please help him_-he could not escape. They-_

_They…what?_

_What were they?_

_The darkness gradually disappeared. It was as if someone poured a bucket of white paint over the black canvas. The light dripped down, making the nightmare disappear. And the only thing that remained was..._

_Nothing._

_Absolutely nothing. _

_The paint erased all his fear, covering it up with the feeling of nothing. _

_He didn't remember what he was so terrified of._

_It was…nice._

A choked gasp escaped his lips as he shot up, his hands grasping at the rags-why was he wearing rags?-he wore. Glancing down, he noticed the blood that clung to his skin.

Why was he covered in blood? Why was he waking up now? What the hell happened? The questions flooded through his mind like a hurricane. The answers washed away from him by waves before he could get a firmer grasp on them. What was he doing here?

Why the hell was his vision halved? He blinked again to make sure. It wasn't a mistake, he could only see out of one eye.

"What? No no no." He muttered, lifting his hands to touch the eye that was usually covered by a monocle.

There was no monocle there. Instead there was….

He fingered the contraption with a soft cry of surprise. It was metal, there were engravings in it but he could not make out the shapes.

What the hell was this thing?

He pulled at the metal scraps that kept the eyepiece secure around his head. They wouldn't budge. He yanked and yanked, curses spilling from his lips as he grew more desperate.

They took his monocle. They saw his face. Did they show the police? Did the task force know what he looked like? Does Nakamori-keibu know? Is he mad? Is he worried? What the fuck is this thing?

His breaths were shallow and quick as he imagined the straps tightening around his head until it exploded. _Too tight too tight, get it off me! _

He pulled at where the straps connected in the back and felt a tiny box. He pulled and nothing happened, to his despair. His fingers found a small hole.

_A hole?….A keyhole. Keyhole, it unlocks using a key. Key, where's the key? There's no key! _

His hands fell to his sides to grasp at the…sheets?

His eyes darted down to stare at the dark red blanket that pooled around his bare legs.

In his panic, he hadn't even noticed his surroundings.

_What…._

Then it all came back.

The heist. The soft footsteps. The sudden pain. The kidnapping. The vulnerability. The humiliation. The photos. The darkness. The cold water. The men. The touches. The tears. The rap-

He stopped his own thoughts in order to shudder, sweat dripping down his dirtied face.

No, never think about that again. _Stop thinking about it._

But he remembered now.

It wasn't a dream. If it was, his mind must be pretty damn elaborate.

But that means...

The camera. There was a camera in the room before. And he had heard Nakamori-keibu's voice.

They knew.

They all saw.

His face began to burn in humiliation. The task force saw it all. They saw how low he had been brought down. They saw his state of undress. They saw the blood. They saw the cuts. They saw the bruises. All of them, even the ones between his le-

_Stop stop stop stop._

He took a deep, shuddering breath with his eyes clenched shut.

He had to escape.

Looking around, he noticed that the room was extremely luxurious-much more than the first bedroom he was put in. He was sitting on a large bed that enveloped him in soft pillows and blankets. He almost felt sorry for dirtying them with his filthy body.

Speaking of which-he looked down and examined his body with fearful eyes. He wondered how he had looked on camera. _Shameful. Dirty. Embarrassing. Disgusting. Failure. _His humiliated mind supplied him with several words that he chose to ignore.

But to his surprise, his skin was unblemished. The cuts on his arms for scratching a man were now white streaks. He touched the bruised cheek he had gotten when he bit the Dutch man that tried to stick his tongue down his thro-_stop stop stop_-but his face didn't throb.

The wounds….were…gone? Could it be the drug that they injected him with? What was in that syringe?

A knock at the closed, wooden doors made him jump. He casually pulled the covers over his exposed body to hide his trembling fists.

He didn't want to answer it. He wanted the doors to get stuck. He needed more time to calm down, think and find an escape route. He didn't want anyone to walk in. He didn't want them to rap-

_Think other things, damn it._

The doors did not heed his silent pleas and opened without a creak. His shoulders tensed as he glanced around for some sort of weapon.

Grabbing the only thing he could think of-the lamp-he raised the makeshift weapon cautiously.

A man walked in and his grip on the lamp tighten. _No..no...no more no more._

The man was tall and handsome. With locks of dirty blonde hair combed to the side and a dashing goatee, the man looked young and charming.

The man was pushing a cart with cloth over the top.

"Ah, it seems that you are awake, boy. Come now, put down that lamp. It complements the tapestry perfectly." He spoke in English, his voice velvet and smooth. It took Kid a moment or two to comprehend what he had said.

"…What?" He nearly flinched at the sound of his own voice. It was scratchy and hoarse. The complete opposite of the well dressed man before him.

He looked up to glare at the man directly, opening his mouth to demand answers. But he froze.

His eyes.

They were grey and cold. There was a glint there that screamed danger and it chilled the thief to his core.

_BANG_

_His face was a mess of gore and crimson as he toppled off the thief in a bloody heap._

_He stalked forward like a predator studying his prey before going in for the kill._

_"A-apologies, Monsieur! We-"_

_"God have mercy! My gratitude!"_

_"Thank you, Mr. Blanc!"_

Blanc. It was Blanc. The man who had killed without batting an eye.

_Poor thing._ The sickly sweet voice echoed in his mind and he felt nauseous. So much blood, the iron smell suffocating. His trembling hands fell limp and the lamp crashed to the ground with a shattering sound. He jumped and glanced down at the broken pieces. He cursed himself for showing so much weakness. The Kaitou Kid did not show vulnerability. And yet he hadn't stopped breaking his poker face since he was captured. _Embarrassing. _

"Tsk, I told you to put it down. Now it's broken." The man sighed regretfully but did not sound mad. He continued walking over towards the bed, pushing the cart.

Before he could control himself, he was already backing away towards the headboard of the bed, his eyes wide. _Stop showing fear, damn it. Control yourself._

"Your throat must be parched. Here." The man smiled, not reacting to the thief's panicked state. He pulled the cloth off the cart slowly to allow the thief to see his every movement. He grabbed the glass of water and held it out to the teen.

Kid stared up at the man-carefully avoiding his eyes-then looked down at the glass of water. It looked so appealing to his throbbing throat. The beads of condensation on the glass dripped from the man's fingers to the floor. He swore he could hear the _plop_ as the droplets hit the ground. He swallowed and looked away.

Blanc let out a breath, sounding amused.

"If water is not to your liking. I have something else." He hummed, the smile never leaving his face. He walked back to the cart and picked up a tray.

"I think it's best if you had stew for now. A proper meal will be given to you when you're feeling up to it. Although…" He let out a chuckle and showed the thief the dish. "It's a pretty hearty stew. I had the chef make bouillabaisse."

The steam that came from the bowl travelled to his nose and Kid could barely suppress a growl. Because damn it, he was starving. The last time he had eaten was the piece of bread the Japanese man had shoved down his throat along with a glass of lukewarm water thrown at his face. There was a gnawing pain in his stomach and he swallowed again.

He spared the tray a glance, ignoring Blanc's innocent looking smile.

_Damn it. Don't show it, Kaito. Keep it together. Don't eat their food. You can eat when you escape. Stop looking for fuck sakes._

But even as he stared at the dish, he felt nauseous. There was an uncomfortable lump in his throat as he saw the contents of the stew.

He felt sick and disgusted.

But...by what?

He felt his heart pound and echo in his ears, wondering what the hell it was.

Was he allergic to something in the dish? The mussels? The potatoes? The peppers? The fish? He didn't know.

Unable to stare at it any longer, he shuddered and turned his head away.

_It's probably spiked anyways, Kaito. You're not missing out on anything. When you get out of here, you can treat yourself to the biggest piece of Tiramisu out there. Better yet the entire cake. Just bear it for now. _

He heard the man chuckle and didn't dare look back.

"That's a shame. I had the chef put in langoustine too. It's not every day we get such expensive stock." There was a clinking of silverware and the thief twitched when he heard the man take a sip of the meal.

"Mmm, I'll have to give my compliments to the chef...well if you're not going to eat, you should at least clean yourself up. Or do you want to stay in those rags, boy?"

_Stop calling me that. _He flinched and looked down at his body. Dirty with blood and stains of whit-he felt sick.

He didn't want to stay filthy for another second.

He wanted it gone.

"You don't have to scratch at your arms so relentlessly either. We have bathrooms here." Blanc laughed and Kid glared at him again. His arms stung.

"What did you do with my monocle?" He kept his voice as steady as he could. His monocle was the only thing he had left here to remind him of home. To remind him of _dad_.

"Oh yes, your monocle. Quite a unique thing." Blanc smiled and reached into his pocket, pulling out a jewelry case.

"…Give it back…" He tried to keep himself from snarling out his demand and barely managed.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that. You won't be able to put it on anyways."

His hands went up to tug at the eye patch again. A glint caught his eye and he looked up at the man.

A key.

Blanc was holding the key teasingly between two fingers.

Something in him snapped.

"Give it back!" Ignoring his fear for just a moment, he growled-damn it he wanted this thing off of him- and launched himself towards the man holding the key.

He was tired of all this. He just wanted to go home. And they had taken away the only familiar thing away from him. Instead they put their own device on him. They marked him. He couldn't get rid of it and the Kaitou Kid did not belong to anyone.

He was mildly shocked when his hands grasped the front of Blanc's suit jacket. _He didn't…try to dodge? _

Several things ran through his mind. He didn't have any of his gadgets with him. Should he just use force? He could grab the lamp-no wait the lamp is broken. Are there more men outside? _Decide already!_

His hands twitched when he heard Blanc chuckle. _Why hasn't he retaliated yet? _

"You should really clean yourself up."

He made the mistake of looking into the man's eyes again.

Blanc was smiling but his eyes were-

Cold, grey, dangerous, unhinged, crazy, psychotic, torturing, sadistic-

His hands unclasped themselves nerveless from Blanc's shirt and fell to his sides.

Blanc's smile never faltered from his face.

"The restroom is to your left. I'll have clothes prepared for you." He turned around smoothly, his hands on the cart.

"I'll leave this here in case you change your mind." The glass of water was placed on the drawer on top of a coaster.

It was only until he heard the door shut did he noticed how his entire body was shaking in utter terror. He had had the man in his grip and yet he felt as powerless as if he had been tied down in chains. He had never met someone with eyes like that. He had lost his ability to comprehend for a moment.

After blinking several times, he began to decipher Blanc's words. Looking to his left, he saw that there was indeed a large door.

The bathroom…right he...he needed to clean himself up. He grimaced at his arms and legs and moved to get off the bed.

He avoided the mess of glass and wires on the floor and made his way towards the bathroom. A sharp pain shot up his spine with every step and he forced himself to ignore it. _Don't look down, don't look down._

Instead he looked around the room. At the cabinets, the closets, the wall-

He paused on his trek, his eyes gleaming with curiosity as he changed course to walk towards the wall.

It was a painting. It wasn't all that big-_60 by 40 cm perhaps?_ But...

He stopped right in front of the picture, eyes unblinking as he tried to understand it. His fingers shook a bit as he lightly touched it, fearing he'd ruin it. It was oil on wood.

And the image...it was...he had no idea what it was. It looked like a man...as well as a woman. But it also looked like a dragon...a dog...a bird...maybe even a bull. It didn't matter what or who it looked like, it was a beast of hell. A devil that danced on the souls of the damned as they burned in an eternal fire. The inferno broils within the jaws of a colossal devil fish with sharp fangs and undead eyes. The demon creature smiles gleefully from two places. It smiles from the face and grins from the other face on the stomach. It dances happily as it waves a banner that proclaims _'In Inferno, nulla est redemptio'_

It was an unsettling painting and he couldn't turn away.

But he knew Blanc would be back in any moment. His pallor grew paler as he thought about it. Turning his head away from the gruesome art, he stalked over to the bathroom, hands on the handle as he took deep breaths.

Once he got cleaned up, he would think of an escape plan. He told himself repeatedly. There was no need to worry. He was the Kaitou Kid, he could handle this. Escaping would be easy.

It will all be okay.

**Yeah...keep telling yourself that Kaito-kun. *Sobs for the poor child* Oh boy, you're in for a lot more pain than this.**

** Well now I am no longer on an airplane (Took me two days to stop procrastinating and edit this OTL) But yes I'm back home safe and sound (Although landing during a thunderstorm was really an adrenaline rush and I enjoyed the sudden bouts of weightlessness way more than I should have.) **

**Okay, I guess I should explain some things then. **

**bouillabaisse- This is a French fish stew (Yes I know, fish.) It used to be a poor fisherman's meal made with the small fish that would not sell at the market. But now it's a home dish that has a lot of other good things in it, served with baguettes. Most commonly found in it are vegetables, mussels, clams and sometimes even crab (I'm writing this info from memory, I hope I am correct. If you have better knowledge on this and need to correct me, feel free to!) **

**langoustine- This is a type of lobster. From Norway, I believe. It's really small though. Different from the typical lobsters that you usually see. **

**The painting is 'Hell' painted by Hans Memling. You can find it online. It took me a while to find the right disturbing painting that would match my imagery. After searching through many paintings, I settled with this one. The description was inspired by art critic Laura Cummings comments on the painting. The words on the banner...Hehehe I think you can tell what it says ;3**

**As for what Mr. Blanc looks like ah...I don't know maybe Zachary Levi's Fandral from 'Thor: The Dark World'. (Unf now that was a hunk of gorgeous) Ahhh no clue but he'd be good-looking though pfft**

**Thank you for reading and hopefully you enjoyed. There will be more on the detectives next chapter. reviews and suggestions are appreciated, see you soon!**


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